


I'm Still Learning

by BreathingDreamsLikeAir



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: 97 liners being bro, Adoption, Art School, Dialogue Heavy, Disaster Kun agenda, Family Fluff, M/M, School, Sicheng is trying his best, Single Parents, Teachers & Parents, god parent Ten, homophobic parents, i'm sorry lucas, is Sicheng in love with Taeyong?, jeno works in a cat cafe, kun is the younger one, kun thinks Sicheng is suave, renjun demands attention and he deseves it, ten and Johnny as the relatives you wish you had
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 29,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22929364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BreathingDreamsLikeAir/pseuds/BreathingDreamsLikeAir
Summary: Sicheng had no one but his son's genius to blame, for that how he had met his Chinese teacher, who may or may not be a sort of disaster.Prompt #AO22Single parent AU with either one of them as the class teacher, except the kid is not a preschooler. They're an adopted, Gen-Z kid who genuinely loves their parent.
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Qian Kun, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, huang renjun & Xiao De Jun & Wong Kunhang
Comments: 2
Kudos: 55
Collections: Winwin Fic Fest Round 1





	1. Mr. Lee-chay-porn-kul

**Author's Note:**

> @Luvarashi for betaing this, and never giving up.  
> i refuse to have Kun as a sorted out member, specially when he's a member of NeoChaosTech.

Renjun felt extremely pissed at the moment. He was sitting outside his principal’s office, listening to him drone about how he had severe adjustment problems that had probably manifested by out of school conditioning. He felt sorry for his uncle who had to sit there and listen to him. It was Ten’s day off in a long time, and Renjun felt quite guilty at sabotaging his plans, but his dad had an important project going on.

“Mr. Lee-chay-porn-kul” His teacher started, and Renjun could only sigh in pity for Ten. “It seems to me that, Renjun is not properly being integrated with the social system for his age, and while we have tried convincing to the parent that joining the boarding in school may benefit, we have not received a reply for the same yet. Mr. Dong seems is keen on avoiding my phone calls, and I do think, that it is not beneficial for Renjun. As a parent, what will ever take precedence over a child’s secured future?”

Renjun knew that the implication was clear, that he was not properly being taken care of by his father. That is it. Renjun was going in.

Before he could reach the door however, he heard a chair scrape, probably Ten getting up.

"Sir, it seems to me that your school has staff lacking in the practical application of knowledge. Over the past month, you have called for Renjun's father, for more than 3 times, regarding minute issues.

My godson is not fighting with anybody, he is not failing class, he is not bullying anyone, nor is he bunking his classes. So far, the only reason why you keep summoning Sicheng to your office is that you cannot stand to see a bright child do in what he believes, not by your system, but on his own, and still succeed. Unless there is an actual emergency, please do not call Renjun's father. I will not even address the notion of how you think Sicheng is a failing parent when he has always been there for him. He is in a meeting right now, very important for his work, and since you seemed adamant about him meeting you right now, he sent me, his son's Godparent in his stead. I fail to see how this is 'not being properly taken cared of' as you seem to be insinuating.." He heard Ten's monologue, and while the older had started in Korean, he had somehow changed languages to English, midway.

Renjun did not want to be kicked out of the school, his records were too good for that, and hence, he went in as well.

His Principal was generally a chill guy by the name of Junmyeon, who often whined about how he was jealous of his husband's dog Vivi, who got more attention than he ever did.

Renjun had spent that much time in the cabin, both his principal and the student sharing occasional looks while his counselor droned on about his latest adventure.

Junmyeon was trying to calm down Ten, and make him sit again, as Ten kept going on about how he could sue the school for harassment or defamation.

It was an almost everyday occurrence for Renjun.

All because of one person.

Renjun really hated him, his dad and he had even printed his photo and put it on the corkboard wherein they occasionally threw targets, to satisfy themselves. Both their aims had improved quite a lot, because of this.

Junmyeon was asking Ten to have some water, and how Renjun would not be given detention, but he had to spend his breaks under supervision.

His counselor was now talking about how Renjun's language skills had not developed properly as the adults around him either spoke in dialects or could not maintain flow in a single language, without copying words from another.

"Being multi-lingual is a thing." Ten said, and even Junmyeon nodded but Renjun knew it would not go through the thick head of his counselor, and language teacher, Qian Kun.

Oh, how Renjun hated him.

"Dad you can't even imagine what he said," Renjun said as soon as he saw Sicheng, entering the house.

He was a bit tired, as the meeting had been keeping him up till late, but he looked very smart in his sharp suit. He was wearing a light sky-blue suit and could honestly pass off as at least five years younger.

Renjun had always been too close to Sicheng, the elder had been his friend first, then his caretaker and then, his adopted father, so he, unlike other teenagers his age had no qualms of rushing into his arms.

Sicheng was tall, and Renjun had given up on being as tall as him a long time back, but he still had at least a couple of more growth spurts to go through, and he, either way, was tiny, reaching only till his father's chest, as he wrapped his arms around him.

Sicheng lifted the boy, dropping his bag by the couch and picking him up from the armpits. Sicheng had heard from other parents how their kids were either overgrowing them or felt too cool, to interact with them, he was often glad that it was never the case so with Renjun and dreaded a day where he would not be cool enough for his son.

Sicheng had heard the tale from Ten, the older calling him up as soon as Sicheng left his office, in the car, may he add, in some very tastefull language as well, but he allowed Renjun to tell his version.

While he did not agree with the counselor’s views, he had to respect the fact that he was good at getting Renjun to speak both, Chinese and Korean better, something Sicheng even after living in Korea for almost one and a half-decade struggled with.

Renjun had joined his new high school this year, he was still in the first year after all, but it hadn't been a pleasurable experience, for any of the parties involved so far, all because of one Qian Kun.

As Renjun hung to him, and he took them to his room, then deposited him on the bed, while he changed into comfier clothes, he went back to a time, where he did know of Qian Kun but did not hate him, he could not remember one.

He had even thought of changing Renjun's school, but the one he presently attended was prestigious, apparently ranked the best and highly competitive. Renjun always had good grades, and Sicheng always supported him. When a bet with a friend regarding grades had resulted in his child scoring some of the highest grades in the entrance test for high schools, he had not been too shocked. Renjun was stubborn and did what he wanted, he was immensely proud, but since then, Renjun had felt burdened, as schools after school kept calling them, wanting Renjun to join them. They even offered full scholarships or boarding facilities.

The world of competitive academics was something Sicheng and Renjun had been blissfully aware of since them. Sicheng had gotten his friends and done a round of each school, finally settling for the one closest to him, whose cafeteria had decent food.

Sicheng had liked the principal, and the place seemed chilled enough. Unfortunately, the school had been surprised by Renjun's lacking language skills, something Sicheng had not bothered with, because he did not see anything wrong with his son speaking a sentence with words of three languages.

They were both Chinese living in Korea and had quite a fast-moving circle, full of other foreigners as well. This was not acceptable to Qian Kun and at first, he had only asked permission to have Renjun sit in special classes for Chinese and Korean, as Renjun, as a child had not learned to separate the two.

It had been the worst mistake, as Renjun did not like all his free periods taken up by Kun. Renjun had complained and Sicheng had set up a meeting as well, but before he could even speak, he was hit in the face with the infamous nagging of Kun.

Renjun's schedule had been fixed already, he had been informed and could not be altered now, which was something they both accepted. Sicheng himself was in the arts, and hence he supported his son in whatever he did, and Renjun wanted to try everything, but somehow it was decided that his grades were good enough for him to take all advanced sciences classes. Most of the time, Sicheng had no idea what Renjun was even studying, and while the child tried his best to keep up, he felt frustrated.

Yes, getting into an Ivy League university, or a SKY university with a scholarship sounded good, but he had no idea if he even wanted to go to university. What would he even study?

Kun always said that he would make a brilliant lawyer or doctor, but Renjun found them to be too boring or demanding. Sicheng did not want his son to feel any regrets later on, but he also did not want him to suffer presently.

He heated some food for both of them, and they both sat watching a drama, in Chinese with Korean captions, as Kun had suggested.

Renjun eventually curled up on Sicheng's lap, and it brought a smile on his face, remembering when his son had been seven and too smart for his age as well. It was then that they had both started having dinners watching a drama on the couch and now, 7 years later it was a tradition for whenever they had a hard day.


	2. Dad's give the best hugs

If they felt more adventurous and Sicheng was home early from work, both would try cooking random dishes from the internet but had discovered that Renjun was the better cook, while Sicheng jokingly acted as his helper.

Sicheng was annoyed at Kun a lot, as he seemed intent on annoying his son, but today he also felt a bit hurt.

Renjun's focus was on the television, and Sicheng ran his hand through his hair. He had heard from parents of older kids how quickly they grew up and time like this became a precious memory. Sicheng had tried to preserve as many of them as possible, with artistic frames decorated by Renjun holding photographs of the two, going back almost twelve years. Anyone who entered their home could feel the deep love that both, the parent and the child had, for each other. Hearing that a teacher, who was educated in child education and was also a counselor, thought that he had not been caring for Renjun had hurt him more than he had allowed it to be shown.

Kun was not wrong when he said that he should have put Renjun in speech therapy as a child to help him better in written languages, but Sicheng himself spoke a mix of both languages and never had any issue in communicating with Renjun. He had seen Renjun write advanced sentences, but certain words were elementary, as if put in for another he could not think of, or that he knew well, but not in the same language. Even the kids around him did not seem to have much issue and developing formal language and informal language, both seemed like such a hassle. Sicheng did not think both needed to be learned specifically, after all, Renjun was always polite and respectful, but yes, some people could take offense at that. Sicheng's work never required him to use big, fancy words, he used his body more than his mind, and either way listened more than spoke.

Sicheng had always focused on creating the best present moment for his son, whether it'd be surprising him by vacations, to buying anything that he wanted, but Renjun wasn't spoiled.

Loved yes, heavily loved, yes. Everything that Sicheng had, he loved Renjun with it, but his son was not necessarily a brat and was far more reasonable than Sicheng could claim to be around the same age.

Persuading Renjun to focus on subjects he did not like, prepare for exams he did not want to give was not something that Sicheng particularly liked, but Sicheng had asked around and enquired. Even if Renjun knew he did not want to go to law school, he had no idea what exactly he wished to be, and Sicheng was hoping that one of these days, Renjun would find something that would click with him, a profession that he enjoyed, till then, Sicheng was okay with leaving work and listening to Qian nag once a week.

Sicheng was certain the older did not have enough company, either way, the way he volunteered to give lessons after school, at which Sicheng has put his foot down. The evenings were for Renjun to enjoy himself, and for them to enjoy the company of each other.

They were both a bit sleepy after dinner, and Sicheng asked Renjun if he wanted to sleep in his room, his son nodded, and followed his father to his room. They both went in the covers, and Renjun then talked about what he had learned and what their weekend plans would be.

Renjun fell asleep first, his words becoming mumbled and the stopping altogether, and his calm breathing lulled Sicheng to sleep.


	3. Fruits

The next day was the weekend, and they had plans involving the whole family.

Hendery's birthday had been in the week, and while they had briefly celebrated it, Johnny was keen on going to a picnic, and so Sicheng woke up a sleepy Renjun, who seemed content just turning around in the bed, but once he reminded his son about the picnic, was up, wobbling towards his room.

Sicheng's flat was something he had gotten early after permanently relocating to Korea. It was on a company lease at that time, right near it, in the center of the city. After promotions, Sicheng was offered bigger apartments as well, and could probably afford one, but he liked the compact place at times. He would often travel a lot, due to his job, but the apartment was near Johnny's apartment, and he had really good relations with all others in the building. If he would let his neighbor know that he was leaving for a couple of days, he would always come to check if Renjun had returned from school on time, and would often invite him to have dinner with her.

Renjun and Sicheng enjoyed the company of the nice lady as well, who was a songwriter for the same company, going by the name of Sunny.

But now, as Renjun was growing older, he did think that having a bigger place would be beneficial. Renjun's room was the smaller one, and there was only one bathroom in the house.

He also thought that Renjun would have liked to have room to use as a study to paint in, and Sicheng wouldn't mind having something with a tiny garden, wherein he could stretch every morning in the open, instead of on his balcony. He had made too many weird eye contacts with strangers, while his feet were above his ears.

Once Jaehyun had seemed him do that, earlier when they were living in the same complex and had asked him to even teach some to his then Fiance, now husband.

Sicheng had grabbed the nearest thing, which was an apple, and thrown it at him, but the other had caught it, and taken a bite, pretending to die of poisoning, as a younger Renjun, laughed about Jaehyun being prettier than Snow White.

Sicheng had been betrayed, and would have probably banned JAehyun from his apartment, if it weren't for the little angel, who rushed to his defense, claiming that "Uncle Cheng was the best." Yes, the only reason he tolerated Jaehyun and his Bambi husband, was because their child was an angel.

Sicheng had known Xiaojun, even before Renjun, and the former was a year older than his child, but the little kid, quite mostly, who was helpful and just got along with everyone, was an angel.

Renjun had been a baby at that time, but Xiaojun would take care of him, and look out for him as well.

It was an entirely different issue, that the only reason Renjun would get picked on was that all other kids thought he was just too cute, and Hendery mostly, was always jealous of Xaiojun picking Renjun over him.

Hendery had been uncontrollable as a kid, too much to handle for Sicheng's gentle heart, running around everywhere full of boundless energy. He was glad the kid had Ten and Johnny as his parents, as Ten would be down to try everything, and Johnny's own gentle giant nature, knew how to channel their boundless energies, resulting in hikes, picnics, walks, random exercises like Muay Thai, or learning aerial yoga, with his family.

Johnny was the latest entry into Sicheng's life, he had gone for a tour for two years and came back to Seoul to be invited by Ten, and his boyfriend. Ten was waiting for him to visit Korea, so that the shorter could ask him to be his best man, for the wedding.

Sicheng had no issues as such, and they had been married in the month, in a very Pinterest-y wedding, where they went to the edge of a creek, and had the wedding on a wooden bridge, where they had first met, with photographs of the two, put up along with fairy lights. Johnny had decorated it, and Sicheng had dragged JAehyun to help him.

Ten had cursed for two minutes, cried for another two, and then made out with Johnny for the rest of the evening.

They had their reception on a boat in the creek, and while it wasn't the most expensive wedding Sicheng had attended, Jaehyun's took that one, it was the most touching. Johnny had mobilized Sicheng to ensure not a single wedding food would have fruits, and that everything was up to his taste. Ten's mother and sister had cried, with happiness, and Johnny had hugged them both, calling them his family, and then Ten had made JAehyun and Ten stand around him so that he could cry again, about how good Johnny was.

So, throughout the last almost ten years, that Sicheng had known the older, he could say easily, that he was one of the best people in the world, and the sanest in his group of friends.

Johnny, Taeyong, Ten, Jaehyun and Winwin, along with their kids, Xiaojun, Hendery, and Renjun had become something of a family.

They babysat and had a night over's whenever some parent unit was busy or out of town, brought food when they were sick, picked up kids from school when busy, and overall, provided stability, as not all of them had strong familial relations.

Johnny's parents were in the US, while Ten's were in Thailand. Sicheng and Taeyong did not have them, and Jaehyun's were often too busy, living the high life, though they did fawn over Xiaojun, then again, Sicheng was sure that there could be no one who would not fawn over the child. He was just that good.

As Renjun and Sicheng waited downstairs, Johnny picked them up in their minivan.

Sicheng was a bit surprised to see that Ten and Hendery were not with him, and he asked about the same.

"Taeyong and Ten got into a fight about the food, Taeyong wanted fruits as breakfast, and Ten obviously"

He didn't have to say anything anymore. Sicheng knew Ten's aversion to food too well.

"Why can't Taeyong just let the issue be?" Sicheng asked.

"He is all for healthy eating, and that children should grow up well."

"His son is pint-sized. Mine is younger and still taller."

"That is exactly what Ten said." Johnny smiled.

"But it is Hendery hyung's party. If he is not coming then why are we going?" Renjun asked from the back seat.

"They are coming, they are at Taeyong's place, hiding the fruits." Johnny deadpanned, and the other two just laughed. This wasn't a first-time occurrence, and it wouldn't be the last.


	4. A frat History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 97-line unite.

The picnic was fun, with Johnny setting up fishing equipment to fish, while Ten lied down to read a book. Taeyong kept persuading Hendery to eat an apple he had hidden in his pockets, while all the kids ate cake and noodles. Sicheng grabbed Jaehyun in the corner, and they both sat on some stones, talking about everything that was happening.

Sicheng had met Jaehyun in college, they had been classmates, and Jaehyun had become quick friends. He and Ten went back a long way, as Sicheng had first met him when he was in school.

Jaehyun and Sicheng had both fallen for pretty seniors, which had taken them a bit apart.

Jaehyun had been successful, and Sicheng had been not, but a few months after he moved to Korea, when he was still living with Johnny and Ten, after their wedding, he came to know that both of them had run into Jaehyun, and they had reconnected after that.

Jaehyun always teased him, saying Sicheng had a crush on his husband, but that was not the case. Taeyong was good looking, no doubt, but he was like a baby. Sicheng was sure, even Renjun agreed to half of his suggestions, so as the older would not feel sad.

He had Bambi eyes, and a pout, that was almost impossible to say no to.

Sicheng just, found him weirdly peculiar and tried to avoid one-to-one interactions with him.

He was like a baby, but one that also had a lot of disgusting sex, as Jaehyun liked to overshare. The version of Taeyong, Sicheng would hear about from Jaehyun, and the Taeyong he would see, with the kids, were two separate people. He was very sure the older man had a dual personality as well, because Sicheng had gone to a club with him once, and that Taeyong, was something, that still gave Sicheng nightmares.

Jaehyun was telling him about his boss, and Sicheng had a flashback of both of them, utterly drunk, sitting in the washroom of some club after their first year exams, wondering if they could ever do something right.

"It's a good life, isn't it Jaehyuna-ah?" Sicheng said, looking around. Taeyong had left the apple near Ten, and the younger was complaining about it to Renjun, who just grabbed it, and took a bite, pretending to then die, while Ten finally laughed.

Taeyong had one hand holding Johnny's fishing rope, and the other around Hendery, and both were waist-deep in the water.

Xiaojun was sitting next to Johnny, probably talking about something. Both were mature talkers and discussed things from literature to philosophy. Renjun had once told them, that they were once competing in the most rubbish story of the origin of coffee, and the Xiaojun had almost died of laughter.

Jaehyun seemed to be looking at the same things as well, and when their eyes met, they both smiled.

"Remember when we used to compete in drinking games?" JAwhyun asked.

"Johnny hyung said, there is this thing in the US, frat boys, and that you and I were frat boys," Sicheng said.

"Yes, we were." And they both laughed.

"When I was 19, I remember thinking about 30 with such sad emotions, but now look at us, at 32 with kids and houses and a husband," Jaehyun said.

"I can't believe Renjun is in High school," Sicheng said, leaning his head against Jaehyun's shoulders.

'i can't believe Taeyong is still as pretty." Sicheng punched him, and the other deserved it as well.

The weekend had been so pleasant, and Taeyong had packed all his leftovers and sent them to his place via Xiaojun, who was worried about his upcoming driver's license.

He had borrowed his Dad's Kia, but even then, had to sit on a cushion, to see properly, and was worried about it.

Renjun's suggestion of borrowing heels from Ten, and driving in them, drew much laughter, and the kid had gone back in a happier state.

Taeyong had texted him a thank you, and Sicheng had asked him if the idea of the heel was on go.

Xiaojun and Hendery went to a different school, as Xiaojun's house was a bit further in the city, more near private houses than company buildings, and Hendery had followed him, as they were both going to be in the same grade.

Putting Renjun there would have been a great idea, but it was far enough for Sicheng to worry about Renjun commuting by himself, and it also wasn't the best one in the city, as Renjun's school proclaimed.


	5. Korea's most famous gay couple

The next day, Sicheng packed some food for his son, urging him to listen to his teachers, and kissed his crown goodbye, dropping him off in his car.

He saw Kun there as well, near the car park, and tried to smile a bit and nod at the man, who accepted his nod but did not smile.

Sicheng worked earlier as a dancer and now as a choreographer for an entertainment company.

He earlier had variety shows, teaching popular choreography to stars for certain shows, but because of that, he had acquired an extensive knowledge of choreography, and now was more involved in reviewing prospective choreography, making sure, that any proposed routine was not similar to an existing one.

He occasionally accompanied some artists outside Korea, for specific functions, such as EMA's of Billboard, to review and practice their choreo, and approve of any changes for the event.

It could be a demanding job, as more and more fans from around the world, raised more accusations, rather than praise for artists, and he had been caught up in occasional steps being too similar to other groups as well. Those resulted in a week-long headache, after all, how was he supposed to know that some YouTubers with a few hundred views, and used a similar step, all the way in Ukraine.

He had never even been there.  
But apart from that, he did enjoy his job.  
He was currently overseeing the promotions of a group called X-EXO, and was often busy and suffered late nights due to that.  
The weekend had gone a long way to help him relax.

Renjun was almost fifteen, and Sicheng thought it was time that he applied for a higher position. He wanted to get a house as well, but all those affordable, in the city were severely out of his pay grade. No one, who owned a house, would want to sell it, and those who did, were very hard to find.

He wanted space for Renjun, enough space for him to grow up on his own, and space which he would call home, space wherein he could come back to and would want to come back to.

He and Jaehyun had talked about how even the idea of the kids going to college was scary. Jaehyun and Taeyong were also thinking of adopting another child as well but yet had to bring up the issue with Xiaojun. Sicheng had assured him that Xiaojun would love the idea of being an older brother if the amount of affection he had for Renjun was anything to go by.   
The adoption proceedings for gay men had become far easier now, then they had been a decade earlier.  
When Sicheng was still in school, homosexuality had been legalized, but over the past years, there had been many more rules protecting the rights and interests of the whole of Queer Community.  
korea's most famous Gay couple, Kim Kai and Lee Taemin, had been instrumental in becoming a voice for the people, with their outspoken views and mesmerizing performances. Sicheng remembered meeting Kai once, via other dancers, and the gaze the other man had, seemed to burn even still.

All dancers and performers looked up to them as Gods, and they were rightly so.  
Yes, Sicheng was a huge fan.

He certainly hoped that any child, who would get to have Jaehyun and Taeyong as their parents, and more importantly, Xiaojun as their brother would be very lucky indeed. Sicheng himself, though, was happy with his perfect child.


	6. I am not a baby, I am 20 now.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Renjun-Yangyang content we deserve

The month of September found Winwin and Renjun extremely pre-occupied. Kun had assigned elementary level grammar practice sheets for Renjun in both the languages, and Renjun could go as far as to say, that he was a nice teacher, as he explained whatever problem Renjun had with ease, and once even stood up for him against his advanced Math teacher because Renjun had misheard a word, and gotten a simple question wrong.  
Kun had found him upset in his cabin, pouting about being told off in front of the whole class. Renjun had acquired some sort of infamy, as tales about his dad and the school authorities clashing became gossip. Renjun usually sat with some Chinese kids for lunch, but now they had started teasing him, first about how strict Kun was with him, and then about his dad, how he was still a baby, and then it went downhill. Renjun knew he was tiny, but he did not like getting picked on at all.

Renjun had spent a couple of lunches at Kun's cabin, doing some homework, and when Kun noticed, he started having lunch with the boy as well. At first Renjun had been his usual sassy self, afterall, half the reason people talked about him was because of Kun. But then, Kun had talked to him, speaking In Chinese, to which Renjun replied in Korean, and now it had become a sort of practice. One would speak in Korean and the other in Chinese, until Renjun may slip into the other language, and they would continue talking, switching. It helped Renjun greatly, and he had never paid much attention to differences in pronunciation of Chinese and Korean words.  
What kun did comment on, that to an extent annoyed Renjun was his nit-picking about his lunch.  
His dad had been too busy, and Renjun was walking himself to school and back these days. His dad would come home at ridiculous times, covered in glitter from make-up and body paint.  
Sicheng hadn't been able to meet Taeyong, who usually stuffed their refrigerator with food, so Renjun was having biscuits or other snacks as food for lunch.  
Kun had the audacity to drone on, about the need for nutrition in growing age. Renjun knew that, he knew he was short and tiny. It wasn't his fault, or his dad's. Maybe he had short biological parents, chinese people were either way generally shorter than korean.  
Renjun had started a monologue about how discriminising against short people, specially those who are still in growing age, by average heighted people was not appreciated, and yes he knew he needed proties, but he did not have time to cook because of all the assignments the stupid school kept putting over him. He had threatened the monologue by telling Kun that the school should be sued for having students carry such heavy books and assignments back and forth, to which Kun just applauded.  
"What?" Renjun had whined. Was he getting another detention? Maybe he should ask Kun to move into their house, and he could oversee his detention then.  
"I am applauding", Kun paused, speaking in perfect Korean,"because you did not speak a single word of Chinese in your rant. Maybe getting you angry is the trick to improving your diction".  
Renjun felt too much, and let his head drop at the desk.  
"My uncle rants in Korean, at times in family gatherings, I probably got it from him." Renjun said weekly. He was sighing, and Kun offered him a tiny container. Renjun opened it to see some cookies, probably baked.  
"I didn't know you had a Korean uncle." Kun said.  
"I thought it was your dad, and your god-father, the Thai guy."  
"I have two Korean uncles, one Thai, one American, but one of the Korean uncles lived in America for four years." Renjun said, munching on the cookies.  
Maybe he should be nicer to Kun, and he would get more tasty home-made food.  
His dad had the basic cooking skills, rice, soup, noodle down, but the art of cooking, something that Taeyong and Jaehyun had, was lacking.  
"that is a pretty big family. You must enjoy it a lot." Kun said, and renjun nodded, finishing the last cookie.  
Kun noticed the unsatisfied look on the younger's face and motioned him to his table. He grabbed another pair of chopsticks and handed them to Renjun. His own lunch was wholesome, looking like something from a restaurant.  
Renjun took a bite, and moaned in pleasure.  
"You should marry my dad, teacher. If I eat such good food, I am sure I will study harder." Renjun exclaimed, and Kun was shocked.  
He had no idea the student thought of him with anything other than disdain.  
"I am very sure, your dad would want a better company than me.' Kun said softly, and Renjun looked up.  
"Interesting." Renjun said.  
"What?" why was kun feeling nervous from this kid who came till his chest.  
"You care more about my dad's comfort than your own. It explains a lot of things now. Teacher, thank you for inspiring me.'' Renjun ate a big bite, and then put his things away, running to his class, and the bell rang just as the door shut behind him.

Renjun had an idea or rather he had an inkling of an idea. He wanted to go talk to hendery to share his idea with him, but the two had drifted apart a bit, due to the distance between them. He thought of calling him, but it wouldn't be the same, so instead chose to go to his house directly from school.  
Renjun had a key for their house, and he entered, to see another boy at the place.

"hi, who are you?" Renjun asked, dropping his bag by the table and going to the fridge. He had run here and needed some water.  
"I am Yangyang. I have to wait for Hendery." Renjun just nodded.  
It didn't make sense, but it was Ten's house, he didn't expect it to.

"Chinese? "Renjun asked.  
"Yes, I met Hendery at a dance competition."  
That made more sense.  
"ooh, i am his god-brother. Are you guys in the same school?"  
"Nah, he goes to a stupid school." Renjun's eyebrows raised at that statement.  
"The performing art department is really good there." Renjun had to defend the place, not because of Hendery, but because Xiaojun went there as well.  
"Ooh, its academic rating is pretty low." Yangyang said, and Renjun wondered if he had a filter.  
"Academic ratings are shit. What matters is if you are happy or not." Renjun declared.  
"Do you go to a shitty school as well?"  
"I am a student at NeoC. Don't think it qualifies for shitty." Renjun said sharply, and expected the other to look ashamed or shocked, instead, the other was happy.  
"Dude, so do I. I am a freshman there."  
Renjun was confused.  
"So am I" he said, and the other boy came jumping at him, throwing his arms around him.  
"Yes, finally a normal person. I thought all that they had were those book-obsessed zombies."  
Renjun and yangyang discovered they were in almost all the same subjects but their schedules were different because Yangyang's first language was Chinese. Renjun had Korean, and Chinese was his second. Yangyang instead had German as his second. That was the only reason he was in the school. They were the only one who offered German.

By the time Hendery came, Xiaojun in tow, because Renjun had called them, his uncle Johnny had already returned from his office and was flipping them all some burgers.  
The four sat and talked for a long time before Ten came and Yangyang left. Xiaojun booked a cab for him and Renjun to leave, dropping off the younger first, and told him how happy he was that he seemed to have found a friend in school.  
Renjun was happy too.


	7. Perks of having an American Uncle

The next day, Yangyang had called him in the morning, standing on his doorsteps, waiting to pick him up. He had a driver it seemed, and Sicheng greeted both of them, before sending them off to school.  
That day, during lunch, Renjun went to Kun's cabin excited. Yangyang also had German at the moment.

"You look happy, today." Kun said with a smile, and Renjun shook his head yes.  
"I made a new friend who goes to this school, and he lives nearby as well."  
"Ah, that is nice Renjun, you should always be surrounded with friends. They only multiply your happiness.''Renjun looked up from his worksheet.  
He expected Kun to berate him for wasting time, but also decided that it did not make much sense. Had he been antagonizing Kun in his head?  
He remembered the dart board,at his house, with a photo of Kun, that Ten had printed from Johnny's studio, and thought that, maybe he should have a bit more open mind.  
"Are you happy? old man?" Renjun asked.  
"Old man? What kind of greeting is that."  
"It means I respect your experiences. My american uncle says it a bit. But are you happy."  
"I am" kun paused as it to think carefully. Renjun was certain that if you had to think so deeply about such basic questions, then the answers were mostly negative. "satisfied. This is the job I wanted, and I wanted to help other students."  
"But your job is me." Renjun said straightforwardly.  
"Ah, yes, but it's not so bad."  
"What about your friends, are they in Korea or china?" Renjun asked, half expecting Kun to tell him to focus back on his studies.  
"I grew up In China, so most are in China. I moved to Korea recently. I haven't met much people other than from work." Kun said, and Renjun wondered if they learnt how to speak polished in teaching school.  
"So you have no friends?" Renjun deadpanned.  
"I would not say that." Kun refuted, but Renjun felt the idea, whose inkling he had felt yesterday hit him again.  
"this weekend, we are having a barbecue, at my rich uncle's house. You can come if you want. I am sure they would love hearing you talk about educating children." Renjun said, and Kun looked shocked.  
"are you trying to get me to make friends with your family?" Kun gasped.  
"Yes, half have met you, the other half have heard about you, I am sure they are curious."  
" Am I that popular dinner-time conversation?"  
"More like when my dad and his best-friend break open the wine because they have had a hard day at work. They are both into Dancing, and often whine about broken dreams or dreams achieved."  
"There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire, the other is to gain it."  
Renjun had to give kun the look, "I know you are an old man, but do you have to quote at me with George Bernard Shaw?"  
"How do you even know it is Shaw, he was a British writer."  
"Irish playwright, and because I have an American uncle who is ridiculously well read. Him, and another uncle Jaehyun would try to educate us all by quoting philosopher's at us when we were growing up, for no other purpose, than to use us as an audience to display their extravagance."  
"That entire sentence was fully spoken in Korean, a high level Korean as well. You are improving."  
"Wasn't it you who said that I have a very high level of intelligence?"  
They both enjoyed the lunches from thereon.


	8. Grandpa? Grandpa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> judge me for the chapter names. I deserve it.

The Day of the actual barbecue had to be rescheduled three times, because either Ten was out of station, or Taeyong had to go somewhere, or Sicheng had a tiring day.  
At the end, it was a Saturday, three weeks after the scheduled one, and Johnny, Ten, Taeyong had succumbed to a food coma. Xiaojun and Hendery were catching up with Renjun, and the three had not moved from the very comfy mattress they had lied on, approximately 4 hours ago.  
The weather was getting colder, and it was the end of the year creeping on them. the winds had started to howl, and umbrellas were being carried around as well. still the day was gloriously sunny, and the family had taken full advantage of it.  
It was about to be the evening, and Sicheng and Jaehyun decided to just go out and buy some food for dinner as well, the Barbecue lunch becoming a whole day plan.  
They took Jaehyun's new car, it was quite the fancy one, and Jaehyun was proud to show it off as well, and went to the central district center. There was a quaint but extremely popular restaurant, and Taeyong was in love with their appetizers. Jaehyun always lived to please the other.  
Sicheng and Jaehyun ordered their take-outs and sat on one of the tables, watching the rest of uber-rich citizens of Seoul go about their Saturdays.  
Suddenly, a man caught Sicheng's eyes. He was wearing his usual stuffing clothes, and Sicheng was wondering if the other had even ever heard of leisure wear, when he noticed the man next to him. He was tall. A side-effect of living with Johnny was that your idea of tall people got wrapped to Johnny, and this guy with seongsang-nim Kun was almost as tall as Kun.  
They were followed by two other people, who also were dressed similar to Kun, but the upturned feature of their nose made it obvious that they looked down on everybody around them.  
Sicheng saw the family of four, since the familiar features made it obvious that they were a family. the tall guy, who Sicheng assumed was Kun's brother was very handsome, and Sicheng had to admit that even Kun was not bad on the eyes.  
Jaehyun nudged him, asking who he was stalking, and he turned to face him,  
"Renjun's teacher, Kun."  
"Ooh, the evil one?"  
"Not that evil really, just boring."  
Jaehyun nodded, looking sophisticated and all, and then came over to Sicheng's side to get a better look.  
The family took the seat right behind them, and Sicheng ducked as Kun passed by him, hiding in Jaehyun's sleeves. they took their seats, just behind their table, and Sicheng and Jaehyun shifted to that side, to hear them better. jAehyun ordered some soda for them, so that they could sit for a longer time, as they both pressed their ears to the partitioning wall behind them.

It wasn't pleasant.  
"I see that you are still prancing around on foot, unable to afford a car it seems? is Seoul that poor of a city? You should come back to China with us, where you can have a proper job, and not this female work, teaching children asif."  
Jaehyun knew a bit of Chinese, not a lot but enough to understand the whole dialogue. he caught on some snippets though and the words were not helpful.  
Sicheng and Jaehyun left soon, as soon as their orders were ready, because the words that were being spoken behind them were something they had heard before, but also something no one should have to hear.  
They were silent for most of the car ride, and it was only when they were parked by a convenience store, near the house that Jaehyun turned to him and asked him what his plan was.  
'My plan regarding what?"  
"Your plan regarding Renjun's teacher whose parents basically tore him a new one, for choosing to study arts and teach children and educate, rather than become som businessman, or the right hand man for his younger brother. Your plan on how to approach a person who is ostracized by his family for not fitting into their idea of masculinity, and having to live in Seoul because he might face litigation in his home country becuase of his sexualtiy, which is also something both of you share. It's the same pattern, when you were seventeen, when Taeyong was nineteen, and now when he is whatever the age he is."  
"Twenty-nine. He is younger than us."  
"Wait what, I mean I thought he looked young for a forty-year old. if he is in his twenties, why does he dress up like some 80 year old grandpa?"  
"He has the personality of an eighty--year old grandpa. Renjun told me he quoted SHaw at him."  
"Wow, that really is old. But you should try to make friends with him, I guess. I mean you are basically a beacon for the LGBT Chinese community."  
"The only Chinese people that know me are our children and their Chinese teachers. Please, if anything, it should be you and Taeyong. Taeyong deserves it."  
"Taeyong deserves everything." Jaehyun said dreamily,and Sicheng was sure that was his husband were an idol, Jaehyun would be found kneeling by his shrine, ' He even deserves your not-crush on him."  
"I don't have a crush on your husband Jung Jaehyun."  
"I know, that's why I said it is a not-crush."  
"What even is that supposed to mean?"  
"I don't speak the language of your heartstrings? mAybe Renjun's teacher might? He isn't bad looking for a grandpa. Is that why you are so obsessed with him?"  
"Eww, no. Jung Jaehyun. I will tell everyone, including your angel kid of your party days, and how you drunkenly got locked in the ladies' washroom."  
By the time they reached home finally, both their moods were a bit better, but the underlying tension or rather worry of sorts, at knowing very well, what their experiences, the worst of them really, were presently occurring to someone else at the moment, was still lingering at the edge of their minds.  
That evening, while sitting between Johnny and Jaehyun, holding the thin neck of a beer bottle between his fingers, leaning into the warmth of both the boys next to him, a word came to Sicheng's mind. Family.  
Something that was so precious to him right now, his own family. SOmething that Kun could not find happiness from, family.

He would probably blame it on the alcohol, but he grabbed his, phone, the movement catching Johnny's eyes who sent him a warm smile, and Sicheng just leaned to his side, to let him see what he was doing on his phone as well.  
He opened this email and typed a long message, that he deleted, followed by a shorter message that he also deleted. He shrugged against Johnny, because honestly being a nice person was so tiresome.

Johnny shifted behind him, grabbing his phone and typing up a message. he showed it to Sicheng and Sicheng only had to glance over it, and ofcourse it was perfect. Sicheng sent it before he could feel the fruits of doubt creeping up. with one tab to the send button, all those vines were slashed.  
He blamed his inner libra for wanting to tilt the world until it was right.


	9. Sit Down Mr.Qian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise the Sit Down part was decided before the song came out. Me and Mark have telepathy.

The next day, which was a Monday, Sicheng dropped his brilliant son off to his school and then later in the day, during his lunch, asked for most of his schedule to be cleared up as he went to the school again. Renjun would probably still be having classes right now, but Sicheng had scheduled an appointment, like the grown up bring adult kun appreciated. he had checked his phone in the morning and Kun had no issues moving around a few things to cancel Renjun's extra classes so that they both were free. Renjun had already sent him a text saying he was going to Yangyang's place after, and while Sicheng himself hadn't verified this Yangyang person, knowing that Hendery and Xiaojun knew him gave him some relief.

He had dressed extra sharp today, but most of it was because of an important presentation and a board meeting discussion about upcoming concepts. He was wearing a grey suit that almost looked metallic on him and it fit him well.  
The secretary, who knew him very well by now,a pretty lady called Joy, who also seemed to be the only person Sicheng knew who would willingly spend all her time with children in distress, gave him a shocked look and Sicheng allowed himself to enjoy it. He was not a great talker. Most of it was because he was always filtering words in his third language, Wenhouzie was still his first after all, the other half was because he preferred to listen first. What was the point of sprouting words if there was no one to hear them? or rather to appreciate and heed to them?  
Sicheng did not believe in empty words, and probably because of this, he had a great weapon by his side, his silence.  
Kun was not going to know what hit him today.

Joy took him to Kun's cabin. He knew Renjun spent a lot of time here, but he hadn't seen the counsellors room itself. He must have visited it during the tour of the school but it did not ring any particular bell.  
The door had a smiley poster about something like opening the door to shut your problems away.  
Pretty big words and promises for one guy, Sicheng mused.

He knocked on the door, two sharp knocks, half a second apart, and the door handle turned from the inside. Sicheng gave a smile to Joy who just nodded as a reciprocal and Sicheng allowed himself to stand at his full height, chest bumped out, like how he had seem some of the idols do, just to appear more confident.

Just as the door opened, Sicheng stepped back, by a foot, motioning to Joy who led him in, and then shut the door behind them, leaving the files he had requested on the table.  
"Mr Qian" Sicheng extended an arm, his head cocking to a side, just enough to appear assertive and not flirtatious.  
Kun looked shocked, and also a bit shabby, as the generally well groomed albeit similar to a grandpa man was looking a bit rattled. He had eyebags, as if he had been crying a bit, and his hair was not that well styled, showing disinterest rather than hurry.  
Sicheng knew the other must have had a hard night after dinner, but he knew better to not show any pity. SIcheng had been there and he had hated pity. An opportunity or an escape was so much better, and that is probably why he was still dancing.  
Sicheng narrowed his eyes at his hand outstretched and Kun hurried to grab it.  
His hands were warm and fluffy, very different from SIcheng's which were perpetually cold and also rather bony.  
"Mr. Dong, I must say your email caught me in the unawares." Renjun was correct, Kun did speak too fancily.  
"Sit down Mr. Qian," The other was still holding his palm, he dropped his hands and sat down, as Sicheng eased himself into the chair in front as well. I t was comfy., but he kept his spine straight.``We have my son to discuss."  
after pleasantries were exchanged they both started to discuss the issues. Sicheg asked for a sheet of paper and kept it to his side as he opened the documents Joy had brought.  
"Mr. Qian, I know that you feel that I am not guiding my son in the right direction"  
"Mr. Dong, I'd prefer it if you called me Kun, and no, more like if some conditioning is provided, Renjun will be the sharpest diamond."  
"Alright Kun, but I must insist at the same, Its Sicheng, and I should thank you for having such high opinions of my son."  
He opened the first folder which was one he knew too well. He went to the first page, wherein there was a document, as old as his son,carrying his name. He knew the document all too well, and he pushed it towards Kun.  
"Is this a Chinese birth certificate? who is Hwang Injun." Sicheng saw realization come to his face, but he answered before Kun could say something else.  
He wasn't here to play a guessing game. Maybe later,. Kun was definitely smart.  
"Renjun isn't my biological son. Most people think I got someone pregnant when I was in college but that is not true, or at least not true to my knowledge. I was a bit wild." He allowed himself to smile a little, enjoying how Kun relaxed a bit at the quip, and then continued, giving the older a smile again,"One of these wild things was to have a crush on this cute guy I saw at a party. I followed him to his workplace, which I found out was an orphanage."  
"Sicheng had to smile at the memory of Nakamoto Yuta's brilliant smile. Oh how heartbroken he had been when the other left for Tokyo, with lovely Wendy as his fiance.  
"So you went to the orphanage and adopted Renjun there to impress your crush?" Kun looked visibly appalled, and Sicheng didn't blame him. Sicheng let out a chuckle at his idea.  
"A baby is not like a car or something you can get to impress someone. Renjun wasn't even at the orphanage then. No, started volunteering at the place, and because ii was Chinese, they put two children who were CHinese as well, tiny kids barely toddlers who didn't understand Korean. I was a dance student in Uni, and I enjoyed hanging out with the kids, They were better than most of the other people I knew. One of these days that I was there, there was a tiny boy that was brought in. We thought he was almost dead, because of how starved he was. The doctor, also Chinese called Yixing though him to be about 6-9 months old, but he responded to words in Chinese. It was severely underfed two year old boy. His parents were illegal migrants or labourers or something. They had run away and left the son behind. You must know how we value sons in China."  
Sicheng glanced over to see Kun ferociously nodding. He was glad he wore a metallic suit really, because the tal always rendered him in tears. He could see Kun's eyes glistening a bit as well.  
"The workers were probably drug addicts or something, who had no shame leaving their son starving. He was in a shoebox, with his papers and all. Hwang Injun, my son, Dong Renjun." Sicheng felt it, the teardrop sliding on his face, but at least Kun had both his eyes wet.


	10. Godfather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> does anyone else feel the wedding vibes?

"I was at the orphanage till my job which required me to go on tour for almost three years. When I left, Renjun was almost 5. We had grown very close, and leaving was very hard for me. I knew the two older boys, Xiaojun and Hendery would take care of him, but still. The doctor, Zhang yixing called me when I was in Chile, on a tour. There was some administrative trouble, the doctor was looking for people to adopt the boys, and only three were left. Renjun refused and the other two did not wish to leave him alone. My contract ended the next month and I didn't renew it and moved back to my friend's house. You have met him, Ten."  
kun nodded, and then exclaimed a "god father".  
"Yes, he is Renjun's godfather."  
"Adoption processes for children not of the same nationality is surprisingly easy. I had the paperwork done within the month. It took another month for Ten and his boyfriend to fall in love with Hendery. Johnny used to babysit the three and he would read them ridiculous books. Hendery had gone to a birthday party and eaten pieces of the cake before it was even cut. At home, when we questioned him, he said, 'I can resist everything but temptation." Ten scooped him right up and there paperwork was also filed. I had a friend who was already interested in adopting Xiaojun and they were all done soon as well. "  
"That seems to be surprisingly easy." Kun said.  
"The government did not wish to pay for the expenses of three Chinese kids, when their relations with China were bad at the moment. Dr. Yixing was leaving the country for the same reason.Moreover, I had the qualifications as a foster parent, I got it while I was working with the orphanage"  
"Ah that makes sense." Kun let out and Sicheng allowed himself to slump against the chair now.  
"The paper work part was actually quite easy, the child was compatible with me and I did not have a police record, and I had an active income. That is all people check before they bounce a kid on you, though the citizenship laws are also a bit ambiguous. But this is not what I can tell you. It took Renjun an year, after the adoption to get used to the fact that I am not leaving him everytime I go out. It took Hendery and Xiaojun spending almost every weekend having a sleepover with him till he was okay with them having sepaerate parents and not living together. Somewhere in his two year old brain, there is the repressed trauma of being abandoned, and me leaving after completing my studies did not help. I know I will have to send him to a university, and I want him to have the full experience as well, but there is no way that I can send my fourteen year old son to a boarding school, or allow him to move in the hostels no matter how good they are.I have no questions with the validity of your arguments, but I do know my son better than you may, and I don't need him to be the president, until he decides that he wants to. I just want him to be happy. The other kids in school see the favoritism, and they resent him a bit for it. I don't blame you Kun, because I know my son is the best, but my idea of best and yours differ. I want him to be satisfied with his effort and understand that growth is not only one-dimensional. I particularly don't care if he gets into any SKY university, unless he cares for it. I also don't want him growing up to think that he can only be happy if he has certain things - the highest grades or the best college degree. I want him to be happy regardless. My son has faced enough deprivation in the first 7 years of his life, enough for me to give him everything he wants. You may think that I am spoiling him, but all I want for my son is to know very well that this one person in the world, his father, not by birth, but the one Renjun himself selected, loves him with all his capacity and capabilities. I have one son, I don't think there is anything wrong in depriving him from love, care and attention. God knows we all had a bad card dealt to us in that regard."  
Sicheng had never spoken so much, and by the end of it, he had to gulp half the bottle of water on Kun's desk.  
He could see Kun trying to grasp around everything he had laid down, and trying to understand. It was the small things really.  
If one were to look at it from Kun's side, and from what Sicheng had overheard yesterday, the best sort of child was one who had the qualifications that stated the same - You were first. You were the best. He could see that Kun himself must have rebelled a bit against his parents, but he still could not forgive himself for doing so. Kun's own experiences clouded his approach and the same was true with Sicheng. What was needed here was a marriage between the two - a compromise.


	11. Sucking at languages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have a shot of water everytime Kun say "What" and feel the hydration in your skin.

Kun seemed to understand this as well, as he spoke first.  
"What according to you will make Renjun happier in school?" The teacher had his notebook open, pen in hand, and he tilted his desktop so that Sicheng could see it as well. It was Renjun's schedule. Sicheng asked for a printed copy to think a bit better and it took Kun less than a minute to provide. This wasn't the Mr. Qian, Sicheng was used to seeing in the meetings, overbearing and not understanding, this was Kun, who cared for Renjun's future, and Sicheng might as well have hugged him.

Sicheng went through another folder on the desk, which had his artworks. He pulled one out, remembering the elfin smile on his 11 year old when Ten had gifted him an easel for his birthday. It had not been touched these last few weeks as Renjun did not have time to spare.  
"Renjun really does love art. So if there is an art class, I would like him to be moved into one. I know that he is in some ball sports,"  
"Football" Kun supplied and Sicheng's eye widened in shock.  
"Mr. Qian, Kun," he corrected himself,"my son is tiny, like really tiny and I know he is healthy and good at stuff, but putting him in a aggressive sports like football might not be the most beneficial."  
"Yes, sir, I did have the same worries but Renjun needs to have at least one physical activity. Football is preferred in applications as there are a lot of scholarships for it, and they had lesser people so Renjun was assigned to it."  
"Do you have dance?"  
"What?" Kun seemed shocked.  
"Dance is a physical activity, and Renjun is very good at it. I had him in ballet recitals for quite some time. He can do almost all the dances that I have choreographed. I think he will enjoy it and the dance facility may be happy to have him as well."  
"We do have dance, but it is either for competing students, so the level is high, and a regular one which is preferred by the female students." Kun was a bit hesitant.  
"That is good, you can put him in either one that the teachers see fit. As for the female ratio, I think it will be good for Renjun to interact with girls more."  
"What?" Kun repeated himself again.  
"He hasn't had many avenues to interact with girls. I am a single dad and all my friends are male as well. I think he needs to learn to not be a fool of himself if he likes a girl."  
"Mr. Dong, I don't think that will be an issue you face. Renjun is not the shy type, but I think, and this is strictly my personal opinion, that he should not be encouraged to date at such a young age." Kun seemed to be confused at Sicheng's expression.  
South Korea was not strictly homophobic, and moreover, Sicheng himself had gay friends as he had mentioned, so was he concerned about his son being gay?  
"Mr. Dong, are you worried about Renjun being gay." Kun asked in a steely voice.  
Sicheng looked dis-oriented.  
"I am a bit worried, becaus ewhat if I am generalising him into being gay?" Sicheng asked and for a moment, Kun lost his marbles.  
"Wait, what?'  
"Kun, you say what a lot." Sicheng pouted really. In the moment he looked far younger than someone who would be a teenager's parent, even if not biological.  
"You say things that make me question a lot of things." Kun replied, drinking the rest of the water.  
"Renjun has grown up with me, Ten and Johnny, Jaehyun and Taeyong. We are all gay. We all have sons, and I am vey sure the other two are gay for each other as well. He has had very limited interactions with people who are not gay. So could I be enforcing the idea that he has to be gay?"  
Kun was a counselor for sure, but this father-son duo were really milking him for all of his worth.  
"I don't think it should be an issue until you are hetero-phobic, I guess?" Kun said, and Sicheng nodded.  
Seeing an opportunity to what should be his job description, Kun answered in affirmative about switching to dance, and then proceeded to discuss the subjects and their levels that Renjun was taking.  
"Kun, has Renjun mentioned any particular interest in focusing on sciences, since he has the highest level for all three sciences."  
'Um", Kun fumbled a bit, and Sicheng had to lean forward really," this was something I was thinking about myself. Renjun had qualified for the highest levels in his test so he was automatically placed there. It is a very competitive course and has its fair share of load really. I did think of putting him in intermediary, because he has issues with understanding language at this point. It has a very specific terminology.``  
Sicheng should appreciate the teacher a bit more.  
"How about you keep him in biology, since that one has English terminology, but remove him from the other two, and instead put him up in a higher English course. He can read books and all. I left him for one month with Johnny and he had become almost fluent. He can easily translate, but I think being in a higher level English class will be more challenging and also beneficial." Sicheng offered his advice.  
"It seems as if you want him to be quite the global citizen." Kun commented, as he set out to do what Sicheng had asked him to.  
"More than that, I had a wonderful opportunity to travel to a lot of countries, almost 60 to 70 and my language skills are not that great. I want him to have that kind of an experience, and him to be able to enjoy it as well.' Sicheng said a bit wistfully.  
"I didn't know you were so well travelled."  
"Oh I speak seven languages, it's just that I suck at all of them" Sicheng laughed.  
It was a self-deprecating joke, yes, but Kun could not understand how Sicheng could make one. What arrears of inner strength did it take to usurp your own flaws to the world, even if accompanied with humor?  
Sicheng seemed to have noticed the other not laughing and contained himself.  
"I haven't travelled much, only Korea and China." Kun mumbled, and Sicheng had to smile.  
"You are still young, Kun-shi, I am sure you will find the time. It's not like you have a teenager at home." At this, Kun had to laugh a bit, because whatever Sicheng had said was true. He could make time, he didn't have anyone depending on him, and yet he hadn't.  
Sicheng got a note of Kun's mood and strayed the conversation back to Renjun's schedule. After the three hour long meeting, the sun had almost set, yet much of the animosity and misunderstanding between the two males had diffused. Renjun's schedule was flexible to allow him the best access of whatever he wished to pursue without draining him much. They exchanged numbers and both, Sicheng and Kun agreed that Renjun's one on one session with the teacher should continue, but Kun was open to the suggestion of having other children facing similar issues with them in class as well.


	12. A hug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings - mentions touch starvation, so give a hug before you read this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most people think being touch starved is like a spicy trope, but as someone who actually experiences it, it sort of sucks. you can be away from your family and friends and alone in a city where you dont know anyone. lets be kinder to each other.

While most of the changes would be implemented after the holidays, the one change that Sicheng and Kun agreed on doing now was pulling Renjun out of football and placing him into art. He could take dance next term without facing much loss, and even the football coach had agreed with the suggestion, clasping one of Kun's shoulders and telling him that while the boy was agile, he was better suited to avoiding the balls than tackling anything. Renjun had run around enough to not need more sports activities for the term at least.  
When Kun had come to his class, and taken him away from football, the younger had been a bit pouty, similar to his father, Kun noted. Actions did not have to be hereditary, but it was certainly inherited from his father.  
While Kun led Renjun to the art hallway on the other side of the football field, the younger had been silent, too silent, and Kun had looked back to see him with wide eyes, surprisingly innocent for a kid, yet suiting him well. He looked at the things around him - a room full of paint equipment and pottery machines, unfinished sculptures of students and teachers alike, some surprisingly witty posters on the walls.  
Renjun seemed to take it all in: the bright colours around, the waxy smell of paint, and the earthy smell of mud. Suddenly Sicheng's adamant insistence made sense. Renjun had a tiny smile, just his lips not puckered. But he looked so contained, Kun, emboldened by Sicheng's message to take a photo as the transfer was a surprise, actually took out his phone and took some. The kid looked so happy. Kun allowed himself to brush a hand on his head, ruffling his hair.  
Sicheng had messaged him last night as well and something that Kun got from their conversation stuck to him. No part of Renjun's past should hinder any of his future. At this moment, the boy, so happy just from the environment around him, was enough for Kun to vow the same.  
After Kun introduced Renjun to the art teacher, Ms. Lee, who quickly took to Renjun just by his knowledge of art. Later, when Renjun dropped by Kun’s office, he had almost burst into tears, thanking him and talking in zeal about all the art supplies he had to buy now.  
Kun felt a burn in his heart. It was full because of the happiness of this child. He wondered if he was old enough to be feeling paternal longing, but before he could delve more into it, Renjun's thin arms wound across him, the younger holding him snug, giving him a tight embrace before running away.  
Kun just sat in his seat, and in a few moments, whatever he was feeling seemed to have caught on as well. Tears were running down his face. They were tears, as hot as the heat of the places on his body where Renjun had hugged him. Another human being who wasn’t disgusted at the thought of touching him.  
He heard many things from those around him: how he was wrong, how he did not deserve any affection, how he would have been a better son if he were dead.  
"A dead son is better than a shameful one," his mother had said in her staunch accent just this weekend. It wasn't even Wednesday yet and he knew the cast off from Sunday was going to haunt him for the whole week..  
Kun knew he was a shameful son. He knew it every time he received a notification from his bank stating that money, almost double of what he made, was credited to his account, his younger brother's name on the sender’s end.  
The phone call that followed was always the same conversation.  
"Ge, it is for tax purposes. Please keep it."   
His younger brother probably earned enough to buy the school he was employed in. He had a pretty girlfriend named Yuqi, who was nice, caring and supportive. She knew how to placate his parents without backing down, whereas Kun, shameful Kun could only get so far as to pick someone around ten years younger at some bar, and even they were irritated at his demands.  
"Why do you want the light off? Are you a girl or what?"  
When his tears came and he began to choke on his sobs, his partners would tell him he was too weird and if they wanted any drama, they would have just picked up another chick.  
It had taken a twenty-four-year-old good-for-nothing man to say those words that repeated in his head, only to disappear with most of Kun’s cash after for the cycle to stop.  
It really wasn't much of a choice. Now, almost six months later, the first person that had touched him was this boy, one who had his own share of the past and yet, was not deterred by anything.


	13. Sunflower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter MVP's

Shopping with Johnny was always the best because the older just went to the dessert area of whatever store they were in and stayed there. And unlike Ten, he never complained about the haul they had to carry afterward.

Johnny gently nudged him in the direction of the art supplies and then went to the baking aisle, telling Renjun to take his time. It was better than anything really, except maybe the cakes that Taeyong made for their birthdays.

Renjun wandered into the aisle, pondering over important life decisions like whether he should invest in oil pastels or oil paints, when he heard a kid scream followed by a lot of things falling.

Renjun ran over and found a boy around the same age as him, if not a bit older, covered in black paint. It seemed as though he had been trying to get a bottle from the higher shelf but was now covered in its contents.

Renjun let out a laugh before he offered his hand to the boy who was struggling on the floor. The paint was making it harder to get up. The boy made a face and took Renjun's hand, only to pull him in. Renjun laughed again. 

A store employee came around the corner and began to lecture them, shouting about misbehaving children and how the paint was dangerous.  
"Yes, ma'am, we are aware. It would also be advisable to not keep black paint, which is very important for all artists, on the top shelf," Renjun huffed.

Johnny found them like this: two boys, one he knew and the other a stranger, covered in black paint arguing with a store employee.

As Johnny approached, Renjun sensed the other boy get a bit nervous, and he didn't blame him for it. Johnny was huge.

"He is my godfather, don't worry," Renjun whispered.  
"What is a godfather?" the other kid asked.  
"It is a back-up father, like if I don't have mine, then he will take care of me."  
"Oh, I have that as well, but he is my father-in-law."

Renjun didn't understand that but he chose to question it later.

Later meant when Johnny had paid for all the supplies from Renjun's cart and bought a big jar of black paint for Donghyuck, which is the boy’s name. Johnny had reprimanded them, which according to Donghyuck was when big people made other people feel small for their stupid actions, while the store employee brought them both some white t-shirts to change into. Renjun had an idea and as soon as Donghyuck put his on, Renjun placed his paint covered hands on them.

Johnny had brought them both to McDonald’s and then heard Donghyuck’s tales as the younger talked about his Mark. He mentioned ‘My Mark’ so much that at one point, Renjun thought it might be his pet or something, but Johnny managed to get out that Mark was his friend, a year older than him, and no, Donghyuck would not call him hyung because he was better at making jokes than Mark.

Renjun and Donghyuck exchanged numbers, solely to sed memes while eating. Renjun came to know that he was older than the outspoken boy. Donghyuck was attending an arts school, a very prestigious one that was famous, but for a different kind of reason.

Mark wanted to study music, which is why Donghyuck had followed him there, but the younger was now devoting all his time to the visual arts facility. He mentioned some of the painters who had come to see the artworks created by the students and he promised Renjun to sneak him in to show him all his works one day.  
\-----  
That night, Sicheng came home to find his son upside down on the sofa, watching some sort of rap contest because “Mark wanted to be a rapper and we have to support his dream”, but was left with no idea as to who Mark was.

He asked Renjun if he bought everything that he needed for his art classes, only to have him tumbling down and running towards him, arms outstretched. Sicheng caught him in the air, and while he was a bit worried about his son’s weight or rather lack of, he allowed himself to worry about it later, content with the fact that he could still catch Renjun in his arms and hold him tight.

Renjun showed him all the things he had bought, how he had arranged his items, what he was planning to take to school to store in his locker, and then, all the things that he was not sure about taking to school. Son and father sat down and discussed the merits and uses of each such stationery, if whether the 3B pencil was a better choice, if the 2B was being taken, or if the outlining pencil should be the blue, the grey or the black one. Then the pair had some hot pot to celebrate, what both hoped would be a good upcoming week, and got ready for bed.

Sicheng showed his latest choreography and laughed as Renjun tried to imitate it. He was quite good, having inherited Sicheng’s agility. Sicheng joked about how Renjun should audition for becoming an idol and they laughed, imagining Kun’s reaction to the news. Renjun went as far as promising to have Yangyang record it on his phone. It was a good evening.

The next day, Renjun grabbed Yangyang by his arm as soon as he saw him, telling him about meeting Donghyuck and his new paint brushes. Yangyang went as far as to imitate some outrageously funny poses in the middle of the corridor where everyone looked at them as if they were crazy, moaning about being painted like a French girl. Renjun ran in the opposite direction, claiming for all to hear loud and clear he didn’t know him at all.  
Later that day, they sat in Kun’s room, waiting for him. Renjun was covered in different shades of green, trying to paint grass as people or people as grass. Yangyang concluded that it was some artistic thing his brain, obsessed with super cars, would not understand and went back to studying theories on how to make a time machine.

Kun seemed a bit rattled, but the two teeneagers only shared a look before dismissing it as old age and went about their lessons. When Renjun went to Kun, telling him that he was offered a position to train as an idol singer, Yangyang recording it in the back, he didn't yell at them, much to their surprise. Instead Kun looked as if he had seen a ghost, his face paling as he muttered an, “Oh, okay. All the best.”

The results were not even worth saving and they wondered what had brought their teacher so down as they parted ways. Renjun went back to the art room. 

He wanted to try out all of his new equipment and Sicheng had promised to pick him up later.  
He was finishing his painting of a grassy meadow, akin to a cluster of people, when his phone rang. It was Donghyuck.  
“Hey, what's up?” he said when he picked up, not knowing the drama that it would ensue.


	14. Sad hours open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is based on a personal nightmare, be armed by hot chocolate and cuddles

Kun did not have a great weekend.

He never did have a great weekend, since there wasn’t much greatness in his world, but he had the leisure to enjoy quiet weekends.  
Quiet weekends meant that after he had checked all the assignments he had to go over and he could walk to the nearby library. Of course it wasn’t as large as the one in his university but it still held quite the collection. There weren’t many work tables but there were various corner nudges, meant to hide a person from curious eyes. He had started to bring a small quilt as well, and the owner, Taeil, was kind enough to put some cushions in the alcove he stayed in most. 

Kun enjoyed most of his Fridays at home, watching whatever movies his younger brother or the students in his classrooms recommended. These days, he watched what Renjun recommended. It kept him in the loop of the ever-changing world of pop culture. It also meant that he had more topics to discuss with his students as well. Such evenings earlier had him perched on a bar stool, sitting like a bird, with its neck out of the cage, but his past had groomed him to be a bit better. 

His Saturdays involved avoiding his family chat group. It was on those Saturday mornings that he spent his time in the library after having a hearty breakfast. His Saturday evenings also now included a cooking class, not due to need of skill, but because of too much time on his hands. It was a fairly new development, only two weeks old, and it had been a rash decision following an empty threat from his parents. 

However, his Sundays were the ones that pained him the most. He was expected to be ready and punctual for a late brunch with his family in a place of their choosing. This usually happened no more than twice a month because his parents were living in China, but in the last few months, his brother had been adamant on expanding business to Korea as well.

Kun suspected that this was another ploy for him to heed to the family business. He had seen the same infectious smile on his brother’s face far too many times for it to be casual. He had an inkling that perhaps his brother had an agenda to emancipate himself from the iron clutch of his parents as well.  
It wasn’t that Kun wasn’t fond of his parents. He did not wish to cause them any anguish. IN his heart, he did hold some worry for them, the same worry that led him to accompany his mother to her checkups every other month and inform his father of interesting news he may have heard teaching the kids of the famous and wealthy.

He knew that his father appreciated that he at least tried to present the facade of a normal family, whether it was wishing their cousins a happy lunar year or asking about his grandparents. But Kun also knew that they would never see him as anything but flawed. He wasn't sure if they were right or if he was wrong.

Kun knew that his preferences and his personality ruined the plan his parents had for him. He knew that because of his lacking demeanour, his younger brother had to step up. The guilt of stealing somebody’s youth, let alone his own brother’s, would always plague him. But now, ten years later, Yukhei still smiled like he knew the secret to happiness and all Kun did was become smaller, folding into himself more and more.

He had never given much thought to how he would die but these past few years, especially after the incident, he could picture it, feel it, see it.  
His death had become a vivid nightmare he could picture when he closed his eyes. He was certain he hadn't imagined it before, but one night it seeped into his brain, from some shadows of his consciousness. And it was all he could think of sometimes.

He had seen himself as a man, a paper drawing of one, with astonishing likeness. In the painting, for it had been a paper sketch, he had nicer clothes he recognized from his youth, standing with three other figures. It was his family. There was the big mansion he grew up in and the pretty blue car he had received as a gift for his coming of age.

It was the car that tore away first, the paper ripping. His smile, curved like a half-moon, fell, along with the smiles of everyone else. Everyone else but his brother, of course. 

Then the space between his parents increased, a few tears and cuts coming between them and him. Then abruptly, his coat disappeared and he was left with a shirt.

Then it was the mansion, a large chunk of paper just vanishing.

His parents had been next. They only lingered for a moment more. His brother was still smiling, but he was away. His parents had walked along the paper, taken his brother’s hand, and left, leaving Kun all alone… 

There was still paper around Kun but it wasn't filled. Instead it became less, tearing off in scraps of all sizes. His parents were still there, on paper, but not on the same page. They had become bigger. Yukhei was towering over them, as he did in real life, the clothes of his childhood replaced with fancier things.  
The three of them grew, taking more and more, and Kun’s page just receded.

The others had bubbles for words to speak, but Kun’s didn't have any. He didn't deserve any. 

No words, no paper.

The page was shrinking until all was left were jagged edges at the outline of his person. He was certain the next scrap would take him as well.

The sound of paper tearing had woken him up that day, that day and many days after that. It had woken him up for some years now. 

This weekend, Kun had received an order from his parents. It was an ultimatum.

He had to take up a job in the company and help his brother, against his protests, or pay back his parents a sum that covered all the payments made by them since his birth until he had left home. They were facing the financial loss of a son, his mother had said, and when Yukhei had protested, they had shushed him up with a transparent threat of looking the other way when it came to his choice of companions. Companions, plural.

One of them was a girl though. Kun had seen her through the photos that his brother had sent him. She was Chinese and decent enough for his parents to ignore the other, who was a boy from Korea that Yukhie had met as a recipient of a scholarship the company provided. The girl was his roommate and more.

His father was a kind man but he had his principles. For both of his sons to enjoy taking men to their beds was too much for him and he had spoken words that cut worse than a knife. Yukhei had no choice but to stand up and declare that he would marry the girl if it made them quiet. He left after that.

Kun was always the one who left first. He didn’t knew what to do. He should have left then as well for it only took a breath before his parents were telling him how his relationship with his brother were what had infected him with this disease.

He was sick and it was a condition.

Kun wished it was fatal.


	15. Ditch day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some plot after 14 chapters

The next day, he was absent minded. It was the afternoon now and classes were almost over. Kun realized Renjun had asked him if he should audition as an idol trainee.

The tension would be too much for his body. Kun was certain of this. He went to the art building to find him.

The hallways and classrooms were mostly empty but he found Renjun’s bag still there, along with his art supplies set up on an easel.

He had been painting something that looked like people burning in some green fire, probably a depiction of hell, but Renjun himself was nowhere to be found.

Kun had his number written somewhere and he ran back to his office to get it. He called Renjun but there was no answer. Perhaps Renjun had gone to get some inspiration, but he wouldn’t leave his paint tubes open for it.

Then, he heard the unmistakable sound of a motor bike. He turned around to see Renjun's unmistakable small figure wedged between what looked like two larger figures.

Kun tried his best to take a picture of the motorbike, hoping to get some sort of clarity on what was happening.

He then called Sicheng. He knew that there was a proper procedure for this situation. An amber alert needed to be prepared, the school administration needed to be informed… The principle should be doing all of this. 

Perhaps Kun was lacking as his fingers found Sicheng’s contact in his call history and he hit the dial button, or tapped it, who even hit on buttons, who even had buttons on their phones these days?

Ah, Kun-shi, what happened? I am on my way to pick Renjun up. Am I too late?” Sicheng’s voice was gruff but somehow calming.

“Sicheng-shi, I think your son ran away? Or was kidnapped?”

He heard tires screeching and a very, inappropriate Chinese expletive spill out over the phone. “My son was kidnapped? How? By whom? Where?” Sicheng was speaking very fast, his accent was making it hard to comprehend, but the words that tumbled out were too familiar.

They were the same questions in Kun’s brain.  
Where had the boy gone? Was it by choice? Who were the others?  
Kun repeated what he knew and Sicheng asked him to wait and not call the police just yet.

After a few moments, Kun saw Sicheng’s car in the driveway and ran down. His heart was beating fast. Where had Renjun gone? He almost ran into Sicheng and he would have if it wasn’t for Sicheng putting two steady arms on his shoulders, tethering him.

He hadn't felt such a touch in a long time, yes, but Sicheng was so different from his son. This wasn't a soft hug, reaching his chest. These were powerful fingers, digging into his shoulders. He focused on the man in front of him, in one of his crisp suits. This one looked like a variant of pale blue silk and made the man, Sicheng look good, too good for a parent.

“Kun-shi, Kun-shi, what happened?”  
It took Kun a few moments to comprehend that the name Sicheng was saying was his. It sounded good coming from Sicheng’s mouth. At that moment, Kun had three different realizations, but the most important one of them was that there was a tiny teenaged boy missing.

“Renjun was sitting between two boys and they were not your godsons, or Yangyang, or any other student from the school. I don’t know who they were or if he went willingly, but he was wedged between them. All his stuff is in the art room. He looked like he left in a hurry. His paints were still uncapped,” Kun mumbled out, his attention on Sicheng’s expressions.

The man looked furious, as he should be. He had a missing son and an inept teacher at hand.   
“Did you call him?”  
“Yes, I did, but he didn't pick up.”

“Of course he wouldn’t, you are his teacher and he’s skipping classes.”  
Sicheng took out his phone and made the call then.  
\--------------  
In hindsight, all of the options that had been available to Kun previously, all the ones that he had skipped when he called Sicheng directly.

Now he was sitting in the back of Sicheng’s car, next to a sunkissed boy with pastel highlights. He was passive aggressive enough to scare Kun, mumbling about how some people did not deserve rights. Kun would probably agree with the child as well. He felt a bit shameful about making an issue of something that wasn’t really an issue. Or rather something that his patience would have resolved if he had let it play out longer.  
Sicheng parked on the school grounds. It was late evening now, the night sky taking over. Renjun ran inside to pick up his things. He hadn’t spoken much but he had been sending scathing looks in Kun’s direction.

Kun hoped that he hadn’t destroyed the relationship he had built with the boy but he also felt justified. He hoped Renjun could see it from his point of view.

He got out of the car and Sicheng followed him out.  
“Mr. Dong, I am so sorry. I should have investigated properly, but I was quite worried about Renjun.”

Kun bowed in front of the older man.  
He felt Sicheng’s fingers on his shoulders, making Kun stand straight.

“Kun-shi, I know the situation was a bit unexpected, but you acted in care and worry of Renjun. He does have the ability to get into trouble with you and I am sorry. He shouldn’t have left without informing you. He did leave school on a bike with two others that even I hadn’t met before so he’s in trouble with me as well.”

Kun nodded at the understanding tone in Sicheng’s voice.

“I am just grateful that it was a false alarm and that nothing bad happened,” Kun said, eyes downcast.

“I am glad, too. I’ll admit he did give me a scare. He will be getting grounded for it and if you wish to teach him some experimental Chinese literature in your spare time, you have my full support.”

With that, Sicheng clasped his shoulder again before releasing it with a gentle press. He got into his car and Renjun followed. He sat in the back next to his strange friend, who had been scowling at Kun through the window but looked too cute to be intimidating.  
Kun stepped back a bit to let the car go through but saw Sicheng turn towards Renjun in the back. Donghyuck did the same.

A moment later, Sicheng turned down his windows and called out for Kun.  
“It’s late, Kun-shi. Do you want us to drop you off?”

Sicheng had shrugged off his coat jacket earlier and his collar was crumpled. He had peeked his head out to talk to Kun. He looked like he was barely in his mid-twenties this way.

Kun was then reminded of a man, a younger man, with a smile almost as pretty but wider, who had also driven a car, albeit a much older one borrowed from his host family. He was all awkward limbs that had recently grown. He had also peeked his head out from the window of his car, in the drizzling rain, asking Kun if he needed a ride home.

He had been shy around the corridors, but with the quieter Kun, he smiled broadly. His smile was not as wide as Sichengs. Kun couldn't even remember the smaller details of his face, just bits and pieces, but he had smiled at Kun as if they were the only people in the world, as if all of the words ever spoken and promises made were within their reach.

Kun's heart had fluttered. He had felt as if he said the words, he could will something into existence. He had been too shy then but had gotten in the car regardless. He hadn't said much the entire ride but before he could run out of the car, worrying about his face exploding, the young man had taken his hands, balled into fists into his own, and unclenched the fingers, one by one, with a delicacy Kun had never experienced since then.

He had bent down because Kun had been shorter then and kissed him. It was a mere touch of the lips but Kun remembered the warmth of his breath near his, anticipating, and then when they touched, Kun had felt something. An excitement, a show of fireworks in his heart, and then the more pressing realization that his life would never be the same.

That while he had said no words, he now knew the truth. He was empowered by it, except it had become his burden shortly thereafter.

That night at dinner, Yukhei mumbled out how Kun had his first kiss with Hansol and their father had thrown his plate at him. He had been forbidden to leave until Hansol was back in Korea.

Perhaps that was why he had selected Korea to come to. Knowing that of all the countries he could go, there was this one where there was this a person who he knew once, if only just for about a minute in his life.

Looking at Sicheng was like looking at his past and his future at the same time. He could feel the indentations of his nails on his palm but when Sicheng called his name again, he got it. He knew.

He sat in the passenger seat and he put on the seatbelt. As he entered his address in the navigation system, he realized he couldn’t unclench his fist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> where do you think Renjun ran to?


	16. So what, we hot, we young

Sicheng drove with practiced ease while Renjun and Donghyuck busied themselves with each other in the back. Kun’s house was nearby, near enough to be a short car ride but far enough for the walk to seem a bit tiring. It was also on the way to school from their home. Maybe he could offer the man some rides, Sicheng thought as the teacher got out and then absentmindedly waved bye.

Sicheng was about to drive but then Renjun screeched at him to stop. He followed their line of sight to see Kun entering a small cottage with some overgrown vines. It seemed like the house was a guesthouse of a bigger home or something similar, perhaps a gardener’s cottage in the suburban part. It had a wooden fence and looked like it would fit right in place in the children’s fairytale, perhaps the little red riding hood. 

As Kun entered the building, Renjun motioned for him to start driving and they went home. Donghyuck was going to sleepover at their place and Mark was going to pick him up in the morning for school.

Sicheng had been a bit wary, but Mark seemed trustable, despite speaking like a gang member and in broken Hangul. He also seemed to look younger than his 16 years of age but he had presented his ID card which seemed legit. That the boy held Canadian citizenship had been surprising but he had shrugged it off, under the noise of Donghyuck claiming that he was waiting to be old enough to move to Canada with Mark.

Sicheng didn't get kids these days. He was glad his son was cute and still spoke words he could understand. He had heard from Ten that Hendery had started speaking in weird words and seemed to recall that the last time he had talked to him, the other boy had used the word ‘dope’ obnoxiously.

His son was smarter than them all though, and as Sicheng saw over his lovely boy from the back mirror, he could not help but smile.  
“Why were you so eager to ensure Mr. Qian’s safety, Renjun?” Sicheng smiled.  
Before answering, Renjun and Donghyuck shared a smile, too thin to be natural, and then leaned forward.  
“We need to know where he lives so that we can prank him,” he whispered.  
“Is that so?” Sicheng whispered back.   
Renjun smiled and then nodded.

His son was such an angel.  
“You weren't supposed to tell him. What if he stops us?” he heard Donghyuck hiss at Renjun.  
“My dad wouldn't. He believes that acts of rebellion are stepping stones in our quest to individuality,” Renjun said, his tone serious.

Sicheng looked up again in the back mirror to see a furrow on Donghyuck's forehead and sneaked a small smile with Renjun before asking, “So, Donghyuck, what is your favourite ice cream flavor?”  
\------------------------------------------

An hour later, Sicheng was heating some leftovers for the kids for dinner, when he heard the boys making weird noises. He stepped out to see them cooing over Donghyuck’s phone. 

“What are you looking at?” He asked, coming to sit behind his son. His baby shifted back into him and settled into his lap, dragging Donghyuck closer so that all three of them could see the screen. 

They were scrolling through pictures taken earlier today when the two of them had left the school to go to a cat cafe that had recently opened up and somehow had too many cats for the single waiter to take care of. He was a friend of Donghyuck. Mark and he were on their way to help out the boy at his work when Donghyuck had the brilliant idea of inviting Renjun as well. The boy had left in a hurry, without informing anybody, as they all thought they would return later and check out the art room, only for them to be too distracted. Renjun’s phone was on silent, but his dad’s calls were set to always go through and when Sicheng had come to the cafe, Renjun had been excited to introduce his new friends and the white cat that clung to him, only to see his teacher as well, clambering about safety and detention.

Renjun now liked Kun but the teacher had crossed a line. And did he think he would be kidnapped by Mark of all people? The boy was walked over all the time by Donghyuck.

Renjun was reasonably pissed and Sicheng could sense it. He thought he should have a proper discussion regarding informing people about his whereabouts, but that could be done tomorrow as well. He had also promised Renjun some detention. He had to think of something for the boy to do.

He would text Ten for some ideas, though he had a feeling Taeyong would be the better option. But was he going to let the twink influence him? No. He’d ask Jaehyun who’d ask Taeyong.


	17. Something's brewing

The next day, Renjun bid farewell to Donghyuck after breakfast and in the morning car ride, his father had relayed the terms of his detention. He was going to volunteer with the younger kids at his school for language and art. It wasn’t a very bad punishment and Renjun knew that it could go worse.

But he was angry at Kun. Yes, he shouldn’t have left abruptly but he was only playing with cats. He hadn’t even had time to get the number of the other cute guy who was working there, but it was close enough to his school. Maybe he could go there with better human beings than Lee Donghyuck, like Xiaojun, who wouldn't embarrass him if he admitted to a crush. Renjun couldn't even embarrass Donghyuck about his crush on one Mark Lee. He would admit to it several times a day, saying Mark was waiting for him to bloom like a flower. Renjun and Sicheng shared some looks at that last night.

Renjun’s next week was tiring. Because of his detention, he spent most of his time in the junior wing’s art room, which was far more enjoyable than the senior one.

Renjun overheard a conversation between two senior girls that had left him a little disturbed.

"I want to paint all my paintings with red because it is the color of the heart, of the blood, of the rose," the first girl said.

"You only want to paint Red because Jungsoo read that poem about the color red in English," her friend replied.

"I want him to know that I appreciate his obsession with the color red. I bought three sets of underwear in red to show my appreciation."

Renjun stopped listening after that. These girls were only three years older than him. Didn't they have college to worry about instead of matching underwear? No guy would even think about something like that.

He understood now why his dad and his uncles were all gay. He was certain he inherited it as well.

Because of his busy classes and detention and spending lunches with Yangyang for company, Renjun’s one-to-one lessons with Kun reduced to the extent the boy would only see his teacher around two to three times a week. 

He might have even missed the smell of his teacher’s homemade lunches. And his amused yet exasperated voice when he was trying to not smile but was surprised by whatever Renjun said. He had spent enough time with him to grow close to the old man. Now it was a bit weird though. 

He was talking about missing Kun with Yangyang during lunch one day when the other suggested to go and talk to him about it.

Renjun had approached Kun quite a lot over the semester so he disguised a moderately tough part of the homework as a wrong answer and went to Kun.

In hindsight, Renjun should have noticed the dark circles, the tired voice, the watery smile, but he was a child and at the moment, very excited.

“Hi, can you please help me with this part? I don't understand this. And how are you? Did you have lunch?'' Renjun was smiling, his youthful happiness shrouding him from how Kun must've felt at the moment.

And perhaps it was this innocence that Kun noticed first. He had not had proper sleep or food. He was worried about keeping a house over his head and how to pay whatever sum his parents demanded from him. With such worries, he didn't have time to explain to Renjun, a topic that he had already spent two hours teaching.

“Renjun, this is a very easy problem for you. You know the theories and you know the application. I don’t understand why you made this error. I am worried you are spending too much time with art and forgetting a lot of what we went through in our sessions. If you don’t understand, ask Yangyang to explain it to you. He submitted his answers all correct.”

Kun hadn’t invited Renjun to sit at his table. He hadn't offered him any cookies, much less asked about his classes, his dad, or his art. Kun had treated him like a stranger as if he was just another student and not Renjun, who he had been working with closely for a while now. Renjun felt the old anger rise again, the one he had felt when Kun had complained to his dad about him skipping school rise again, and he decided to exact revenge.


	18. EXO had a comeback

The next Sunday, Sicheng was in office because X-EXO had a concert coming up and they needed to get a practice run-through done. Renjun told him that Donghyuck would be coming over and that he had too much homework to visit Hendery.

Half an hour after Sicheng left, Renjun also left but to go to Kun’s place. It was only some bus stops away. This had been half the reason he had asked his dad to drop off Kun so that he would know his place of residence. The house having no security was a plus point for the ease of the plan.

Renjun’s plan was simple. He was going to Kun’s house and was going to toilet paper his front door, or even better, paint misspelled words on his wall, just to infuriate him.

As Renjun reached the old house, he saw that the condition was even worse than what he would have imagined. He tried peering through the window to see if anyone was inside and discovered that he could easily slide it open from the outside.

Renjun thanked his tiny body as he was able to haul himself in without making much noise. He, however, heard some noises from the inside of the house and hid between the refrigerator and the wall, to not be seen, until someone was directly standing in front of him.

He could not hear the words clearly but it was obvious that Mandarin was being spoken but the dialect was unfamiliar to him. He tried to identify words but it was too fast for him to understand anything. He really should be more attentive in his classes.

It was a conversation between Kun and two other people, he could tell that much. Perhaps the other two were his parents. He could identify one of the voices as belonging to a female and the other was male. They seemed to be disagreeing about something and they were talking to Kun a bit rudely. Their tone was harsh and Renjun felt protective of his teacher. Perhaps Kun had been in a weird mood because of his parents.

Renjun had never met his grandparents. His dad never talked about them. Thinking about it, Renjun didn't have much experience with any family elders. Taeyong never mentioned his parents.

Johnny and Ten's families lived in different countries but he'd never met them. He knew though that they loved Hendery and they traveled to Thailand and Chicago every year to meet them.

The only elders Renjun had met were Jaehyun's parents. They were both as nice as his uncles and had even bought gifts for him and Hendery, apart from those which were for Xiaojun. 

He tried to remember if Kun had ever mentioned anything about his parents but couldn't seem to recall. Kun had mentioned how he had learned Korean from school onwards and a few stories about growing up but had never gone in detail about them. Hearing the argument, it would be wise to assume that they were not in the best of the relationship and there were differences. He no longer felt like pranking Kun but thought that he should still wait for the parents to leave. He could pretend to visit him so that Kun could feel better.

The argument, however, didn't sound like it would resolve itself anytime soon, as the other two voices cut out Kun at any chance to speak. Renjun felt himself getting angry at the sake of his teacher. Kun was a wonderful person and he didn't deserve this. He got out his phone and after putting it on silent, called Kun's number, hoping that the other's phone wasn't on silent.

He heard the phone ring, coming from a different side from the voices though, and hoped that no one would see him.  
The phone ringing was loud enough for the argument to stop. He heard footsteps towards the phone, more than one. He couldn't very well speak into the phone, but he hoped the call itself would be a distraction.

He also quickly typed 'how are you' and sent it to Kun. He could always ask the teacher to hang out with him. Maybe he could go over his homework or they could talk about plants or even better, visit the zoo.  
Renjun knew he was being stupid, but he didn't want Kun to be on the receiving end of the arguments. He had been in the position enough and it wasn't something enjoyable. He had once voiced his displeasure regarding it, and the teacher had been kinder, his nagging tendencies dormant since.

The ringing of the phone stopped, as Renjun received a message from Kun, saying that he would talk to him later. Before Renjun could think of anything else, the argument again started, but this time, it was in Mandarin and Renjun could understand parts of it.

"Who is this boy calling and texting you? Are you seeing him?"  
"He is my student."

Renjun could not understand the rest as the conversation shifted to the dialect. The argument this time was worse, louder and Renjun almost felt scared, for both himself and Kun.

He left his hiding position to peak around, to see if the window he had jumped through was visible from where the others were standing. They seemed to be in a different room. Renjun hauled himself with an ease that would have made his father proud and then ran towards the front gate. He thought of what to do. He hid on the side of the window, his eyes inside, when he realized that a paint can that he had put in the side pocket of his bag had come out and was now on the floor.

Retrieving it would be messy, but just as he was trying to think of something, he saw movement. The voices were screaming now, loud enough to attract attention from neighbours if they were paying attention. He couldn't even hear Kun, just his who he assumed were his parents. He saw them come from the corner.  
The lady was wearing one of those dresses that you saw rich aunties wearing in tv shows. It was a peach-colored suit with a skirt and would have looked pretty if it weren't clashing with the fluffy purple scarf that she wore like a bandanna on her neck. It reminded him of air hostesses from the 1980s for some reason.  
The man with her was tall, taller than Kun, and a bit red in the face from all the shouting. He was wearing a suit so proper, Renjun was almost shocked that he didn't have an accompanying pocket watch with a long chain.  
Renjun hadn't had the opportunity to interact with a lot of people outside of his family, but looking at the couple, Renjun was sure that he would never willingly interact with them as well. They seemed like the sort of people who suffered from pain in their neck because of how high their noses were perched. At that moment, he vowed to be better to Kun, no wonder the man had been as stuffy as a can of rotting fish, it would have been in the genes.  
Kun came out behind them, looking surprisingly younger as he wore a pair of black skinny jeans, not the type that the teacher wore, more like something from Ten's wardrobe. He was wearing a denim shirt with cut sleeves and looked more hip twenty-five than the thirty he mostly presented. Was he also wearing eyeliner?  
This was a side of his teacher he had never seen. But before he could appreciate, or click some photos as a keepsake, the yelling intensified.  
Renjun ensured that he was hidden well, as the people inside came closer to the main door. He then heard a loud yell, for the word, leave, in Kun’s voice. He kept his head low and tried moving along the wall to the other side to avoid being seen if they came out by the door. He heard the lady say something loudly and heard a crack type noise. He wondered what that was, but before he could go and see, he heard the door open. It shut a moment later with such a strong snap, that the sound reverberated inside him. He counted till ten and peeked from the side. The couple was on the road, getting in a fancy car. He waited until they left and then counted ten again, before he went to the window on the other side, from where he had gotten in. he tried looking for any signs of Kun, as the man hadn't left yet and when he couldn’t decide to peek in. he didn't see or hear anything, and could not even see the bottle of red paint he had dropped.  
He jumped indoors again and went towards the main door. He saw his teacher there, lying on the floor, as if fainted, red covering his hair. He screamed.


	19. Most Precious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sicheng cares?

An hour later, Sicheng rushed to the hospital. It had taken him almost forty minutes to reach the hospital, and he was halfway to pulling his hair out from frustration. As soon as he parked his car, he ran towards the entrance, almost crashing into the reception desk.

“My son, he was brought here in an ambulance, Dong Renjun. Where is he?” he panted out. 

The receptionist dared to smile at him, mumbling a, ‘just a second sir, I’ll get back to you’ and kept speaking into a phone. Sicheng hadn’t noticed that. He was about to scream again, when he heard a loud shout, “Dad”, and turned around instinctively to catch his son in his arms.

He hugged him close and tight, until he felt small fists protesting, probably due to suffocation, and looked at his son. From face up, he looked fine, albeit having a running nose and rimmed eyes from crying. His hands, however, were covered in red, and so were his jeans.

“What happened? I got a call from the police, they said you were there and there was an accident. Where did you go? Are you hurt? Your phone wasn’t working. I thought you were hurt? What happened?” Sicheng was spitting out words, eyes scuffling over his son to ensure that he was fine. 

“I am so sorry. It was all my fault. I thought I was helping him, but they, I don’t know, I didn't see but when I saw him, he was on the floor, and he had blood on his head. I thought he was dead, and then my phone fell, and I couldn't, so I called the police on his phone. I didn’t know the password, but emergency calls went through so I called them.” Renjun spoke in a whirl as if he couldn't wait for the words to come out from his body. He then held onto Sicheng and only cried harder. 

Sicheng took his son in his arms, lifted him, and went to a waiting lounge. After settling in a corner, he got his handkerchief out, and started dabbing it at Renjun’s hands.it took him a moment to realize, however, that the red was peeling off, rather than wiping off.

“Is this red paint?” he asked his son, now thoroughly perplexed.  
Renjun nodded, sniffling.

“What happened? Who got hurt?” Sicheng asked.   
“Don’t hate me dad, but I”

Sicheng had to stop his son right there, “I could never hate you Dong Renjun, you are the most precious thing to me.”  
Renjun just sniffled and clung closer to his dad.

“So, I was really angry because Mr. Qian was like, not mean, but he was being weird, and I was already mad because of the kidnapping thing, so I thought I’d go prank him. Spray misspelled words on his wall or TP his door, or something. I’d have cleaned it up a couple of days later, I promise” he looked up, his eyes shining with tears, and Sicheng just held him in his arms. His whole world.

“Okay, then what happened baby?”

“Mr. Qian’s parents were there” Sicheng tightened his hold around Renjun. He could see how this meeting would not go well.

“They were fighting, like arguing, and Mr. Qian was like, dressed for a party.”  
“Party?” Sicheng questioned.

“Umm, yes, like Uncle Ten. He looked nice, but then his parents were angry that I messaged him, and then I hid in the back, and I heard like a crack, and then they shut the door and they went. I went to the house, jumped in the window, it was open” he clarified, at the look Sicheng gave him. His son was breaking some laws.

“He was on the floor, dad, and I think the red paint opened up because it was on his head. I thought he was bleeding. But the police said that it was his leg. He fell, and his leg hurt, and he crashed into the paint on his head. Dad, he was unconscious for a long time, he still is. The police wanted to ask me what happened but I said I wanted you here first.”

“Okay Renjun, but do you want to go home? I will talk to the police and all, but I think we should check on Kun first.” Sicheng motioned to get up, and Renjun got off from his lap.

Renjun led him through the hallways, to where he assumed Kun was. His son was getting into a whole new variety of problems. He quickly dropped a message to Jaehyun.

As worried as Sicheng had been earlier, for Renjun’s well beings, he was now very angry. The police thought that Renjun had planted the paint for Kun to fall, and was ready to toss his son for juvenile detention. They also chose to ignore Renjun’s version of the story and seemed fit to throw his baby with other criminals.

Kun was still unconscious and the police had to wait for his version. Renjun kept asking about Kun’s health from whichever nurses that seemed to pass by, but all he received was ‘be patient’, he will wake up in his own time.”

The police were preoccupied with trying to contact Kun’s family. The numbers that were provided had not been updated for quite some time, and while Sicheng knew that Kun did meet up with his parents, he was certain that they would not be going to the hospital to discharge him when he woke up.

As per the doctors, he had suffered a concussion on one part of his head, which had led to some bleeding, but the main issue was a slight fracture near his shin bone. The doctors had mentioned that he would be in the cast for at least six weeks, which would be then followed by two weeks of rehabilitation. 

There was also a mark on his cheeks. It could due to him hitting his face on the floor, but both the doctor and Sicheng had talked about it and we're sure that it was a hand mark, hit with such a force that Kun would have fallen from the impact and then hit his head on the floor, the paint can be broken by the impact. 

The police had agreed to the version but still wanted to charge Renjun for breaking. Whether the charge would be pressed or not, was Kun’s decision, and Sicheng at one hand was utterly exasperated by Renjun’s actions, he also agreed that the relationship between Renjun and Kun was strong enough to not warrant court proceeding. 

He sat there, near Kun’s bed, when he heard a gravelly voice call him. Before he could reply, Renjun got up and ran to the man, hugging him as well. His son had a habit of using his stature as an excuse to run into everyone’s arms.

Sicheng looked up at the man infront of him. He felt himself being engulfed in a warm hug, and allowed himself to relax, finally.

“Hi hyung. Thank you for coming.” he held on to him.  
“Dong Sicheng. We are family. We always have each other’s back.”


	20. I decide to love you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, so a lot of people may have some issues with how this chapter progresses because it seems so mechanical, but for me, I have never been a romantically inclined person. I recently had the opportunity to meet someone for whom i feel strong emotions and the process was more sitting down, and discussing how far along we will allow our emotions to run.  
> Both the characters are defined by their history and hence a casual but budding romance is not possible.  
> These are people who think of love as a strategy, of an added bonus, another line of defence and as strenght.  
> Love isn't supposed to make you weak, and I want them to be empowered by their emotions and not underwhelmed by them.

Kun felt his head hurt. It felt like he had been hurt by a metal object. He tried to open his eyes, but that was too painful. His tried to see where he was, but he could hear some noises, voices. It was Korean.

He was in Korea.

He tried to remember the last thing, that had happened, but thinking hurt. Only one thing came to him, a word, a person.

Renjun, the poor boy.

He had messaged him and had called him.

Why did his head hurt?

He tried to move something and his nose twitched.

Suddenly there was silence around him. He took a sniff in the air, and there was a voice again.

He knew the voice, it was there in his head, a familiar person. He tried to focus on the words themselves.

"Kun Seosangnim. Please wake up."  
Seosangnim, the kids called him that. He was a teacher. Right!

But only one called him Kun and not Qian.  
He parted his lips.

"Injun?"  
He felt a small body near him.

"Yes you are awake. Dad he is awake."

He heard and tried to open his eyes again. It was still hard. He felt a hand, a warm hand over his forehead. He lifted his chin against it.

He heard a chuckle, and let out a whine at that. Were they laughing at him?

The hand was brushing his hair now, and Kun felt himself feel a bit better every moment.

"He's acting cutely dad." He heard the voice but it was a bit far away. He felt relaxed and didn't feel like using his brain much. It hurt.

'He is cute." those were the last words that registered before dream land took him victim.  
…………..

The police had left now, after Sicheng had signed his documents. That the oh-so prim and proper Qian Kun didn’t have health insurance seemed an anomaly to his over all prim and proper persona, but as Sicheng got a good look at him, sprawled in a denim jacket with residue glitter from eyeshadow over his face. His pants had been replaced with a comfy pyjamas and the cast was fitted on. 

Looking at him closely, Sicheng could see that he had a different hair shade than that of his roots. 

Wasn’t bleach and hair dye supposed to make you stupid? Was this the same Kun from school?

And as Sicheng was wondering about this, he found the error of his ways. He only knew the Kun that the man presented at his workplace.

Workplace Kun was nice, helpful, open to constructive criticism, but also sort of breathing down on your neck.

Then he had seen the Kun with his parents, subdued, treated as a second class citizen by his own blood.

And occasionally, from conversations with Renjun, he had heard about a snary Kun, one who was kind, loved to cook and bake, cared about others, cared for his son.

A very long time ago, Ten had found him, standing alone at a party in their house. Taeyong and Jaehyun were swaying, hands on each other, utterly in love. Johnny had been with Ten as well, earlier but had gone to drop guests off to the door.

“Why don't you dance with anyone?” Ten had asked.  
“I don’t have a partner” Sicheg had said, well past sober.  
The kids were in bed and Sicheng was alone.

“Do you want a partner?” Ten had asked carefully. Tha twas the thing about Ten, he was loud and had a personality that would have made the pacific seem small, yet, the things that the held, he held with such care and delicacy in his hand, that the idea of entrusting anyone seemed undoable.

Did Sicheng want a partner? Someone to cuddle with, on nights were he was to cold, someone to hear his end of the problems as well. Did he?  
Yes.

And that is what he said, but the moment he said it, he felt another slew of thoughts, an army really, badgering and demanding attention, and focus.

“I want a partner, but that is not all that I want. I want everything, a father, a parent, a boyfriend, a husband, someone dependable, someone who can cook, someone who cares more than they ought too.I want it all or nothing. I can’t settle, not with Renjun in the picture. The world is not going to give me the perfect piece to fit my puzzle, maybe it isn’t a puzzle, or maybe I lost it already. But until then, its nothing.”

Sicheng didn’t speak a lot, it was something that only happened when he was drunk, or when he was angry, but that was rare. Years of listening to first toddler talks, then foreign words, and then again his son, had made him a man of very few words. If not work, most of his interactions were limited to his family, his brothers that he had begotten, and his son.

Fate had taken away Sicheng’s family, in a way he would never wish on anyone, but fate had also delivered, and it was so much better that anything he could ever imagine.

Sicheng had looked around at Hendery’s birthday party, and been grateful, if this was all that life gave him, if these people were all that made his family, he would be more than happy. But since then, there had been some changes. It was like a slot in a wall that had opened to reveal a door.

Looking at Kun lying on the hospital bed, Sicheng had the vague thought that having this person in his family would not be a bad idea. That he could laugh with him, and that he would care enough, and most importantly, that he would understand.

Sicheng had gone through multiple single parents forums online, hearing the stories, about dates that ended badly, relationships that hurt the child, scared him. He had gone for one date, back when Renjun was barely 8, and the man had been nice of sorts, although he couldn’t understand why Sicheng had adopted a child.

There wasn’t anything wrong with the question, but it irked him in a way that was hard to ignore.

He deleted and blocked on the ride home.

He was thinking about this, about Qian Kun, and whether he really was as different as Sicheng was thinking him to be, when he heard the cough and looked down. 

Kun had opened his eyes, and there were tears running down them. Sicheng rushed to him.


	21. I wanna do bad things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you decide to be in love, when you allow yourself that liberty, the axis of the world shifts a bit, but it is upto you to control how that happens.  
> you could remake your world around this other person, but you could also remake it around you, when this other person is also included next to you.  
> Value yourself more in a relationship, for only you are the true carrier of your heart and its burderns.

Kun was trying to speak, but no words were coming out, and he started choking on his sobs. Sicheng pressed the call button, and then went again to brush his fingers through his hair.

“Kun-shi, it’s Sicheng. Renjun’s dad. You are okay, you are fine. You are at the hospital, and you will be fine.”  
Sicheng tried for the softest, most soothing tone to talk to him.

After a moment, Kun breathed out, finally relaxing a bit, and Sicheng fed him some water through a straw. There were still tears on his cheek, and Sicheng tried to wipe them, only to have the younger one flinch away.

Sicheng was shocked for a moment, until he realized the hand mark, that had been blooming on his skin earlier.

The nurses came in and Sicheng stepped back a bit, allowing them to run a check over him. Kun had hit his head hard, and had woken up after a some time.

Sicheng had decided to stay back and deal with the paper work, while Renjun had gone back with Taeyong. The lawyer had talked to the police and they had decided to leave as well, and the nly issue after that was Kun’s fees, which Sicheng offered to pay.

Once the nurses left, Sicheng went back to sit next to him. They had propped him up on the bed, and he looked very young, not at all like the grandpa, that Sicheng joked about.

“Kun-shi, you are fine, you’ll be okay.” Sicheng said, he didn’t have more words, what more could he say?  
“The police will take a statement from you, regarding your fall, because they think Renjun caused it, but apart from that everything is fine.”

Finally, at the menion of his son, Kun responded.  
“Why Renjun? He didn’t do anything?” his voice was a bit hoarse, and Sicheng made him drink some more water, before telling him about Renjun’s great failed prank.

Kun even smiled when he mentioned that Renjun wanted to paint misspelled words on his wall. It was a small smile, a hint of eye roll, as if he had expected that. 

Sicheng was very sure his sexuality was ‘people who care about and know my son’.

He made a point to text Ten the same, at a later point.

After another test, where the Doctor clarified the care routine for his leg, and the symptoms of the concussion, Kun was allowed to leave.

Kun seemed a bit hesitant and unsure, but Sicheng just asked for a wheelchair, and wheeled the teacher to his car. 

Kun had made some protests, mostly questions about the payment details and that Sicheng didn’t have to stay, and Kun could call a taxi, but Sicheng had his own ideas. Kun’s house still had a large splatter of red paint, akin to blood on his hallway, a window that one could easily enter, and parents who seemed keen on hurting him.

This was the first guy, Sicheng had liked in atleast the last 6 years, there was no way he was letting him go.

Sicheng offered to lift Kun into the car, but the teacher just shrugged and hobbled into the back seat. He might have even blushed.

Cute, indeed.

…………..

Kun had expected to be dropped off at his house, but Sicheng drove into the driveway of a building, probably his house.

He had stopped the car right next to the elevator doors, and then helped him out from the car, a firm hand on his waist holding him. There was a chauffer who parked the car for him, and if Kun stumbled a bit, Sicheng held him against his chest, holding him upright. Kun blushed, but could you blame him. He had found the man attractive earlier, after hearing his story, he had found him compassionate and someone who was dependable. After falling in love with his son, ebcause how couldn’t he adore that beautiful child, he had found himself wanting, but now, it was too much and all wrong.

Kun didn’t deserve this, he was about to be homeless in a week, and his parents had taken away his savings and every penny that he had. He could not be worrying about Dong Sicheng, and how good it felt to lean his head against his chest.

He couldn’t because Sicheng deserved better, not Kun, whose entire life was unravelling.   
They got into the elevator and Kun made an attempt to stand on his own, but Sicheng was not having it. Sicheng just looked down at him, and Kun stilled. The single father, bought his other hand to rub his cheeks, gently where the mark was still blooming

“Did your parents hit you?” Sicheng asked and Kun just looked down, in the other direction. He didn’t have to say anything, as the silence was answer enough.

“My parents used to hit me a lot as well.” Sicheng said, and Kun sharply looked up. He had never heard anything about Renjun’s grandparents, and Sicheng had never mentioned them either.

Before he could ask more, the doors opened, and Kun tried to limp out, but Sicheng, just took something from his pocket, and then bent down, picking him up.

Kun let out an undignified squeak, but clung to the other man. Sicheng held him up bridal style, and before Kun could voice out his complaints on being manhandled, the older man started walking in the hallway. It was a long hallway and Sicheng said nothing. When they finally got to a door, decorated with a name plaque he was sure renjun had painted, Sicheng used a hand to unlock the door, still holding Kun up. 

Did Kun sway at this display of manliness? Yes.

He opened the door, and Kun pushed as well, and found himself delivered to a very comfy looking couch. It was one of those that could be transformed into a bed, and Kun settled in well. Sicheng grabbed a cushion and propped his injured leg over.

Kun looked around the house, it was neat, not very cluttered with furniture, it had a minimalistic approach but there were photographs and painting along the wall. He even saw a poster for a dance recital advertisement. There was a shelf in the corner full of trophies. Kun was sure that they belonged to both Renjun and Sicheng.

“Where is Renjun?” Kun asked. Sicheng was behind him, where he supposed the bedrooms were.  
“He went for a sleepover at Taeyong and Jaehyun’s house. They are his uncles.” Sicheng said and he came back, dropping a fluffy blanket over Kun.

He then leaned over Kun to a side drawer full of papers, takeout menus at a better look, but Sicheng being so close to him, made him feel self conscious.

“You should eat something, the doctor said you have to eat a lot, and i have to keep talking to you because of the concussion. Are you fine though?”  
Kun took a moment to look at this man next to him. He was puzzling and bewildering.

“Did something that I forget?” Kun asked, his eyes wide?  
“What are you taking about?” Sicheng asked, his phone wedged between his shoulder and head as he flipped through the pages. Kun reached out to hold the phone against Sicheng’s ear and Sicheng just gave him the thinnest of a smile. It was a playful look, and Kun started actually wondering if he had hit his head harder than he had thought.

Once Sicheng was done ordering food, with some prompting from Kun, the other got up again and went towards the room. He came out some minutes later, wearing a shirt that was too loose on him, and comfy pyjamas.

He came and sat down next to Kun on the wide couch, feet up, arms around his knees and chin on his knees. He lloked so young and so beautiful like this, that Kun wished to reach out and touch him, to check if it was real.  
Sicheng caught him staring and smiled again, causing Kun to blush, and then held out a hand, like summoning a paw from a dog.

Kun stared at it for a moment before putting his hand in the others’.

Sicheng maintained eye contact with him, and just had the barest twitch of a smile when Kun gave him his hand. 

“What did you mean? What did you forget?” Sicheng asked softly, so softly that Kun was sure that he was bushing everywhere.  
“Did something happen? Did something change?” Kun asked, his voice barely coming out, as Sicheng’s gaze held him in place.

“Well, i found out that you have homphobic parents,” Kun winced and look away, but Sicheng cupped his jaw, and turned him so that they were facing each other again.

“I found out that you can really rock Denim, i found out that you were beaten up. I found out that your house is a safety hazard, i found out that you care a lot about my son, more than you should, I found out that my son definitely cares about you alot, I found out so many things Kun, and I want to find out more. You puzzle me.” 

Kun was sure that he was blushing hard, but his words also tugged smewhere else.

“I puzzle you?” He asked, voice suprisingly devoid of any emotion. Sicheng did not notice it as soon, and he nodded a yes.

“You do.” He said, smiling, and Kun felt an old anger rise within.  
“And what do you intend to do when you have me figured out? When you have finallly solved me?”

Sicheng now also looked a bit serious, and he dropped Kun’s hand to cup his face in both hands.

“I want to do things that would violate your contract as Renjun’s teacher.” Sicheng said, and Kun felt something in his heart relax.

“You said your parents use to hit you as well? What happened?”


	22. A childhood in Wenhouzie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one in which we learn about Dong Sicheng and his flexible body.  
> Also, I have no idea or information about Wenhouzie, so please forgive me people.

By the time their food, a hot pot and some jajangmyeon was delivered, Kun knew Sicheng almost as well as he knew himself. It was such a simple answer to the question he had asked.

“I left Kun. I left.” SIcheng had said, his throat tight.  
Two simple words but Kun could not even imagine the pain, the strength, the sacrifice and most importantly the fear.  
It was something Kun himself wished he could do but could never, because he was too scared by the big What if?

“How, I mean was it that bad?” Kun had asked, and Sicheng had burrowed into the blanket as well, next to Kun, sharing but not touching.

“I am from Wenhouzie” Sicheng had said and Kun winced.   
Wenhouzie was famous for their orthodox practices. People didn’t hear much news from them and the area generally was a bit mysterious.

“Oh! Wow” Was all Kun could say.  
“Yes, and I was the only son to my family. I had two older sisters, but growing up, I was separated from them. They were made to work in the fields, take care of elderly and young kids. I remember I would meet them for festivals and we’d joke about how they were getting groomed for marriage. They’d alway say, ‘Sicheng, take every opportunity that you have and leave, otherwise you would rot here’. There were rumors that I was too soft, not much for high handling women, and more quiet and docile. In the school I used to live in, we would learn so many things and it was all too fascinating. Then, came the preparations for a dance troupe for a festival. We learnt all these dances and it was so easy for me. The teachers thought I could go to the capital, even the forbidden city as a performer, and all I could think was, once I live, I will never come back. I was about sixteen and my older sister was getting married when I realized that I would probably never want to marry a girl. The wedding party had some people from the city and I bargained wit them for a bit to go to the city. I went away, and I roamed around and I found this University fair, and they were advertising different programmes. I was young but I decided to do it. I threw myself in all extracurriculars, studying harder and I had the contact agent. There was a teacher who was kind enough to pay for my applications and all, and I applied for an assisted scholarship. I was certified in Traditional Chinese dance, so I had to teach that, one class for every semester, plus some volunteer work and necessary performance for the school. I t was easy stuff. The only issue was, I had to have some money to leave, and my parents were very set on marrying me to some trader’s daughter. They had suspicions about my …. preferences. And like, I tried my best not to but, they knew, they just knew. That I was dancing more than I ought to, instead of learning business, that I was visiting the city and then, when I came home after school was over, after everything was decided, the only thing left was the tickets, my family asked me if I wished to follow the life they had set for me. I thought, Oh! Kun, I really thought they would understand.”

Sicheng’s eyes were glassy, his words almost a sob. Kun had been quiet the whole time, listening patiently, but hearing how troubled Sicheng sounded, as if he was not this man, but the same child, Kun had no option but to go to him.

He put a hand behind Sicheng’s neck, being careful to not jostle his leg, the cast felt too unfamiliar, and he did not know what to do, so he just went to him. Put the arm on his shoulder from behind, and his own face on his shoulder.

He wanted to do more, to comfort more, to care more, but this, this was a start, and that was also just as important.

Sicheng turned, slightly over him, and Kun felt his pulse increase, but then Sicheng’s expression thawed, he took a breathe and Kun felt himself relax. This was Sicheng, and somehow, Kun knew he could trust him. The older pushed Kun until he was lying down comfortably, gathered a bunch of pillow around him, for support and comfort, and while he was doing that, leaning on Kun’s other side, body stretching, and through the loose t-shirt Kun could actually imagine his sinewy body, how good it would feel to just touch.

Could Kun touch? Perhaps, but then it would be too real, again. He had run away the last time, would he run away this time as well?  
They were so close, almost touching really, but there was still so much in between, each millimeter of distance a story of pain, of hurt, yet each iota of distance also a promise, the hope for a better tomorrow.

It was so close, so fucking close that Kun could taste it really, feel his eyes about to be blown, his skin vibrating. 

Could he?

“Can I ?” he said, in a tiny whisper,a fantastic case of brain to mouth with no filter. Sicheng paused, hovering over him, a cushion in hand.

An entire heatbeat passed with nothing to contribute, and Kun’s ears were ringing from how loud his heart beat. He looked up, at the face, very pretty and so white, and perhaps it was the sound of him blinking that drew Sicheng’s attention to him as well. He had it though, for sometime now, but it was here, and real.

Sicheng let out a small puff of air, and Kun asked again the same question.

“Can I?” Sicheng was precious now, he may not know the whole story, the whole everything, but he could find out, or not. Those were possibilities and there were suddenly so many of them.

Kun had to ask though, because how else could he take without asking. SO much had already been taken away from them, but this, this was precious, so important, suddenly.

A day before this was not a thought that would have crossed Kun’s mind, except that was a lie. Kun had noticed him from some time now, but this wouldn’t be a possibility, wouldn’t be a chance.

All his life, Kun called himself a coward, but now, in the face of such a tremendous deed, he was brave. Bless his heart.

Sicheng’s answer was a nod, a barely there, but still a nod, barely perceptible if you weren’t looking.

Kun planted both his hands on his side, and put his weight on his good, leg, before lifting himself up, and Sicheng just fell, his face on the others, so beautifully, that Kun had to navigate. It was a gentle kiss first, on his cheek, and he could feel Sicheng’s nose against his forehead, exhaling, in relief.

Sicheng pushed Kun down then, and arranged himself around Kun, making sure the other was at ease, and then drew his nose to the side of his neck, inhaling his scent.

Kun swore to every god he knew, and then it was there, soft as a feather, thin, soft lips against his.

Kun swore he died.


	23. They kissed already man.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do adults do when their problems are piling up sky high, and they feel like they might choke?  
> They talk, they use words, they lean on a shoulder and feel better, only to go next day and solve them all, or postpone till necessary.  
> Or you can get a Sicheng to do it for you.

The kiss was so brief, just the touch of the lips before Ku pushed himself bac, away from SIcheng.

Sicheng looked a bit surprised, and also a bit hurt.  
“Do you not want this?” he asked, eyes trained elsewhere.

“I do, I do but not like this. It can’t be this thing that is there and then no more. I can’t. I am too…, I want it all, everything, or nothing, but not this. Not questioning myself at every step, not worrying about everything.” Kun was scared because to his own ears, what he had said sounded rubbish, but Sicheng had nodded in understanding, and then his face had been tucked on Kun’s shoulder.

“Don’t look at me, I am embarrassed. I was too caught up in the moment.” he exhaled. Kun brought his arms around Sicheng’s waist, and the older hugged him back, cutely.

“Does Renjun do this as well? It seems like a very Renjun thing to do.” Kun commented and Sicheng had to laugh.

Kun found himself relaxing with his elfish laughter, and then, the doorbell rang.

……………………….

Sicheng liked Kun, he decided and texted the same to Ten, while they were eating food and watching some Chinese movie. 

“How did you finally leave?” Kun asked him, when they were filled with food. Ten hadn’t replied to any of his texts, probably too busy with johnny.

He kept his phone down and paid attention to Kun, who just smiled.  
“Ah well, they locked me in for three months and beat me up and shame me a lot. They wouldn’t allow my sister to come, but my younger sister, she is two years older somehow got to me, treated me a bit, and I told her how I had a place to go and all I needed was a bit of money to run away. She conspired an engagement with a boy she liked of sorts, and both her and my older sister gave me some of their jewellery. They put me in a carriage and I went to school, where the teacher gave me all the documents and helped me pawn them. I booked a flight to seoul and came here. I was virtually money less, and spoke very less Korean. Ten was my roommate and he was Thai. we just clicked, and he would cover for me, and helped me find a job. That’s how I met Jaehyun. It just became a family and here we are now.” Kun could only imagine how bad the three months of being locked in was.

“And here we are.” Kun repeated.

“What happened with you Kun-shi? I saw you before going out for lunch with your parents and I overheard something, it wasn’t pretty, but then I saw the slap mark and Renjun told me. You have barely any papers. How did it come to be so bad?” Sicheng asked gently, and Kun laid his head on his biceps.

“You know how you left? Completely?” Kun asked and Sicheng nodded.  
“Well i just shifted to a different country. I didn’t have the strength to leave and I became a coward but now they treat me like one, and I don’t know what to do.” Kun sighed.

“What do you want to do?” Sicheng asked.  
“They have freezed all my money and written me off. I am too broke to even have a roof. I don’t think I can do much for now, except live paycheck to paycheck. I have a loan to pay to them. They want me to pay back for everything they have spent on me. 18 years of everything. It’s such a big loan and I can’t pay it all at once. But until I do, they will not let me be at peace.” Kun said and Sicheng felt his anger raise.

“They can’t do that at all. They can not ask you to pay back whatever they have spent on you. You didn't ask to be born, they did that, you don’t have to pay a single penny if you don’t wish to. And what do you mean they have taken over your accounts. They are yours. If it had them in it, you can just go to the bank and ask for them to be removed or get yourself an entirely new one. You have a steady job Kun, a good income, and you are great at your work. I am getting pissed now. I have a lawyer who you can talk to, he is a friend and will help you. You can’t be living like this. I refuse to have you be living like this.” Sicheng grumbled and Kun had to smile really, the older looked so cute.

“And who are you to refuse me living my life?” Kun asked sweetly.  
Sicheng blanked out.

“Okay, I know I was too much, but I have liked you for sometime now, since I came to meet you that day in your office, I saw you as an equal, as someone who would understand. I was happy when you said that you either want it all or nothing, because that is the same thing that I want. I have a son, he is at least sixty percent of my life and I can’t have one thing and not the other. I may be demanding too much, but I meant it when I said you are a puzzle, because I am sure your pieces will fit perfectly with mine and my son’s. So, what I am saying is, and this may sound cheesy, but I have some rights as the person whose object of affection is you.” Sicheng said, his face hidden, and Kun could hardly contain his smile.

“Is that from some book or something? That sounds too dramatic to have been yours, you are a very chill person.” Kun laughed, and Sicheng only had his eyes out, the rest of the face hidden behind the blanket.

“You try to be nice and romantic once and it doesn’t work out. I will have you know the last time I used to date was when Renjun was still a toddler, and now I am the sentimental father to a teenage boy, and still you tease me. I am disappointed in myself.”

“I think it's beautiful.” kun said, and Sicheng straightened out a bit. Kun looked at him in the eyes as he continued, “I think it is beautiful because you had said that you suck at all languages but the way you speak is so beautiful. I want to be able to do that. To voice out my feelings, without feeling the need to hide them at all.” Sicheng brought a hand to brush Kun’s hair and the moment felt too intimate.

“Use your words Kun, tell me how you feel. Tell me everything please?” Sicheng asked, a familiar pain in his eyes, that he knew Kun would mirror soon. He had laid his soul bare for the other, was the other going to do the same?

“I have a younger brother, I am very fond of him, but when he was young, he accidentally blurted out that I had my first kiss at the dinner table. He was too young to know that boys should not be kissing other boys.”

“That’s not true”, Sicheng interrupted him. “That’s not true at all. Boys should be kissing whoever they want to kiss and if it is other boys, and if the other boy wants it as well, then there is nothing wrong in that. That is what I am teaching Renjun, or atleast i want him to know.” Sicheng had grabbed Kun’s hand and was planting small kisses over the back of his hand.

“You are right but I used to think that and sometimes I still do, that i am wrong because I want this, boys and men and not girls and women. It is just, at times they make me feel like I have committed a crime, and I know I haven’t but I still feel guilty. And Sicheng, I am tired of feeling like this, of feeling so guilty the entire time. I didn’t want to work with them. They have a company and all, and I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to be their son, on whom they would put pressure for everything. I came here to escape them, but now they have come here as well. My brother is dividing half of his time between Seoul and Shanghai, because his partners are in both the cities and they came knocking, asking for better relations and all, and I accepted like a fool and I don’t know what to do. I feel like I should cut them out, but I also want them to be proud of me. They are the only family I have. I want them to like me and love me. I am just being greedy now, aren’t I?”  
Kun asked sadly, the weight of his words reflecting his heavy heart.   
…………………….

Sicheng had no answer for that. “It's not that simple, I know it looks simple but it is not that simple.”   
Sicheng lied down, his head too heavy against the world right now, and found himself on Kun’s lap.  
“Kun, I am not that strong and I am not that knowledgeable, but, I want this, you and me and Renjun to be happy. I can’t date, I can’t have me son in that line of crossfire. I won’t have time to take you to fancy dates in the evenings, and I won’t drop by unannounced at your work. But I want you like this, I am a dad, and I don't know how to be a boyfriend, and it isn’t fair to you, but one thing I can do, is solve most of your problems. Only if you let me of course. “ 

There was silence around the room, and then Sicheng just groaned.  
“I can’t believe I’m being so sappy. Aaghh, I was better at flirting when I was young, I promise you.”and Kun only laughed.

“I am ot that young either Sicheng.” Kun said and then a thought came to Siceng’s mind.

“You were dressed up, denim crop top and leather pants and all, where were you going on a Sunday morning all dressed up?”  
“You will laugh at this, but I used to go clubbing a lot, in college so I have some outfits from them.” Sicheng got a good look at how red Kun’s cheeks were.

“We’d have to go clubbing then. I thought you only came with the default old man settings.”  
“I thought you only came with the exasperated, overworked father setting.”  
“That’s not true, but is the biggest part of my identity.” Sicheng giggled in acceptance.  
“Well, you are cute, almost as cute as your son.”  
“Not even close, my son is the cutest, have you seen him in sweater paws? Or yawning? He used to have a snaggletooth. He is the cutest” Sicheng yawned.

“You do love him, so much. It just feels like I am so happy Renjun is cherished so well.” Kun sighed, and let his head fall near the cushions and Sicheng came up to hold him.

“Sicheng?” he asked after a while, when the silence felt too comfortable, as if it would just invade his senses, but before he succumbed, there were somethings that needed to be answered.

“What happens tomorrow?” Kun asked softly. He was also worried about the answer. Was this a life changing moment? Perhaps it was, but all he could do was hold Sicheng, and hope things would work out fine.

“Tomorrow, we wake up.” Sicheng's voice surprised Kun. he thought the other had fallen asleep.  
“We wake up, and then I show you how I spectacularly fail at making breakfast, and you help me, but I tell you not to, because of your leg. And then we go to visit Taeyong, he will drop Renjun off at school, and you have to inform the school that you fell and can’t come tomorrow atleast. We talk to Taeyong about what we can do, and then maybe we go to your house and I can get a better idea of your dual wardrobe. Then we go pickup Renjun from school, and then we sit down and have a talk with him. You only have to decide what we say to him.” 

“You have so many plans, already.” Kun said and nuzzled him, falling asleep.

It took a moment for Sicheng to realize that yes, he indeed had plans. He had no idea from when or where but he had started thinking about Kun as close to him, the train of thought however was venturing in a scary direction, so he decided to sleep first.

He had a son to take care of already though, it would be nice to have a partner who would take care of him, and for whom, he could also do something.

The next day, Sicheng’s prediction was true to some sense. Kun, even standing on one foot could make amazing pancakes, and by the time they reached Taeyong’s place, Sicheng already knew that Renjun had not gone to school. He had also called in his office to take a break.

As soon as Renjun saw the, parking the car, he ran out and Sicheng was barely out of the door when Renjun came to hug him, tightly.  
“Dad, I was so worried about everything.”   
Sicheng shushed him, and as soon as Renjun saw Kun trying to walk by himself, he went to support him from one side, while Sicheng held onto the other.

Sicheng thought that Kun and Taeyong should talk by themselves and instead stayed with Renjun.  
He wasn’t going to admit this but the lawyer side of Taeyong still scared him a bit. 

He sat down with Renjun in Xiaojun’s room and held his son’s hands. Yesterday had been a tiring day for both of them.  
Before he could ask Renjun anything, the other boy asked him a question that surprised him.  
“Is there something going on between you and Kun? Are you dating?”.  
Sicheng had told Kun that he would have time to decide but right now, he himself had no idea.

“Yes and no.” Sicheng answered.  
“You like him?”  
“A bit, but not as much as I love you”  
“Duh, i am the most lovable, everybody’s favourite, well, except Xiaojun, but dad, you know you can date and all. I mean, it would feel weird if I start dating and then you are home alone.”  
Sicheng had to arch an eyebrow at this.  
“Who are you planning to date? Is there someone I should know about?”  
Renjun had a small smile, probably trying to hide something, “Well there would be, but I am too worried about leaving my old man alone. If only he had someone to hang out with, I'd feel more at ease.”  
“I am not an old man.” Sicheng said, maybe a bit too loudly, because it certainly made Renjun laugh a lot.  
“If you date Kun you will be.”  
“Are you okay with it? I mean we are not but would you be okay with it?”  
Sicheng sounded more breathy than what he had intended.

“Dad, he literally babysits me after all classes, I mean, he is nice and doesn’t seem like it will do much harm, except perhaps to our cool style.” Renjun shrugged it off.  
“No Renjun, like seriously, i want your opinion on this, you are the most important person to me, and I don’t want you to feel like you shouldn’t. So think about this, and I will as well.” This was something important, and Sicheng could not do it without Renjun’s approval.  
“Dad, most people ask their parents about dating, not their kids, but its fine. I will grow up and leave you, but I don’t want you to be alone, and dad you are still so young, and you have done so much for me. You have made me so happy and I want you to have someone to share all the happiness I give you as well. Besides, it’s Kun. He makes amazing food, and once integrated into the mordern culture, will be deently cool. You guys will gel together better than you think. Believe me, I know both of you better than you know each other. I ship it even.” Haalf way through, Kun had appeared in the doorway, and heard Renjun’s words. Sichengheld eye contact with him, and beckoned him to come forward, and inside. To join them.

Kun came in, albeit limping and before Sicheng could help him, Renjun was already holding him, hugging him from the side.  
Kun leaned into his hug, and disbalanced a bit, before Sicheng held on to him, steadying him, and encompassed his son as well.

“Family hug?” Renjun asked, voice muffled against Kun’s sides.  
“Family hug?” Sicheng had to ask as well. What was Kun’s decision? What had he decided?  
“Family hug” Kun mumbled a smile, but there were also tears in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this read as weirdly as I felt writing it? Like i have no idea how romance works? because I dont.  
> literally, if you are into a giy, you just self-depreciate until you cut em off, or it they are bad then you appease them until you break.
> 
> healthy romance? who and how?
> 
> really how?


	24. Epilogue - Time lapse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How do you build a relationship?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry if the story didn't end the way you wanted it to, but due to other circumstances, this is all I can do.  
> I promise to add a later chapter that may satisfy you better.

How do you build a relationship? Is it done with an iron will or the most loving heart, or some unaccountable level of passion?

Is it done by truest of the love, or a shared emotion, some deep understanding?

Kun had never known how relationships work.

Sicheng however had a tiny bit of inkling.

_ Of Course Renjun, you can paint over the cast, but it will come off in six weeks. _

I don’t think it is a good idea for me to teach Renjun, I can’t focus on the other kids and that is not fair to them all.

_ Sicheng, I am really scared. What if they find me and try to hurt you or Renjun? _

You have to protect yourself Qian Kun, you are too precious to get hurt. And if it is an issue, we’ll send Ten and Johnny.

_ What if your friends don’t like me? I didn’t cook enough dishes and what if they think you can do better? _

They already love you, well all except Ten. He will have a debriefing session, and he will love you once you come out alive. If you don’t than, its not a worry. And as for the second one, Don’t worry. They have never seen me date, ever, so they know you are special.

_ Do you want to meet my brother ? He is different from my parents. _

Yes, Should Renjun come as well?

_ You shouldn’t overwork yourself Dong Sicheng. You are really bad at taking care of yourself. _

Good that I have you.

It was a lot of patience, calming smiles, gentle nudges of acceptance, of reading subtle signs to identify boundaries. It wasn’t all that rosy, but there was no rose without its thorns.

_ You can’t be scared of your parents. _

We all can’t run away from them.

_ Renjun is allowed to hang out with whoever he wants. He is my son. _

He should not do whatever he wants. How well do you even know his friends?

_ No, I am happy with my job and I don’t want to change anything. It’s my job. _

You should go back to university if you want a Masters. You can’t achieve your dreams like this.

_ I am not going to move in permanently with you. We have barely been together. I don’t even know if we are dating. _

Relationships are built on mutual understanding, on seeing the other person what they refuse to show you, and loving them with all their flaws. It is built on making the other person stronger and finding your own strength from them.

It is built in growing together in love.

_ I am so scared, but i want this so much. _

You deserve it, I don’t know anyone who deserves it more, but even if you don’t get it, we will have ice cream for dessert.

_ Why are you crying? What happened? Are you hurt? _

Renjun called me ‘dad’.

_ We are not going to Thailand for vacation. I don’t need Ten messaging me the entire time I am there. _

Fine ! But we shouldn’t go anywhere too expensive.

_ You can’t buy me such expensive things. _

There’s one more expensive thing.

_ Is-s tha-at what I think it is-s? _

Will you accept me and this ring?

_ They are your sisters. They will not hate you, not when they helped you so much. _

But it has been so many years. I am so scared.

_ Jiejie this is Kun. _

Nice to meet you! I am his husband Dong Kun.


	25. It's Huang Renjun's world and we are all just living in it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very unsure about how to end this story. I have never ended a story before so this is of sorts new.  
> I hope you like it.  
> Thank you to everyone who read it.

Sixteen year old Huang Renjun had some problems. The biggest of them right now were the four humanoid shaped lumps on their lunch table.  
Just looking at them from a distance, Renjun had the idea to leave them on their own and have lunch in the art room. He was the art teacher’s favorite student, she wouldn’t mind.

But then, he considered the cons. Most probably, if he abandoned those beings, barely passable as humans, they might just follow him to his house and spread their stink there. Today, he and his dads had important dinner plans. They were all going to compete in the same level of plants and zombies, and there was no way Renjun was letting anything distract him from winning. 

While he was wondering if the beings on the table were worthy of his company, he heard a mellifluous voice call his name. The presence of the owner of the saccharine voice was enough to bring a smile to his own face, and he turned around, following him to the table.

As soon as he sat down, a large body saw itself fit to lean over him, nuzzling his neck. Renjun felt disappointed that he was actually happy by this, and cradled his fingers in the hair.

“Why did you take so long? Donghyuckie was bullying me, and you know the maknaes always support him.” Jeno grumbled, cutely.  
The use of the adjective cute in regards to Lee Jeno was honestly redundant. Everything Jeno did was somehow cute, except when he was angry. Those times attracted and entirely another series of adjectives, neither of his dads would be comfortable with.

Renjun just gave a look to Donghyuck. Did he really have to bully Jeno of all people?

“Jeno-yah, don't take it seriously. Hyuckie is only being mean because he is jealous of you. You have two wonderful and loving boyfriends, whereas poor Hyuckie has been alone since Mark went to college.” Jaemin said, from his right.

“I am not jealous of Jeno. For that I’d have to be envious of you two, and your figuring out polyamory is a thing’ episode of last year is a negative bank so high, no amount of you three pretending to be cute will fulfill it.” Donghyuck snarled.   
Renjun looked down at his words. Last year had been a bit dramatic. He leaned on to Jaemin, with Jeno still resting on his shoulders.

Last year, he had decided to shift from his previous school to Donghyuck’s more art based one. He had finally properly met Lee Jeno, and fallen in love again, in all of three seconds, before meeting his other half, Na Jaemin, and repeating the process.

His father had for once, his own romantic life, and there had been a lot of sitting and talking about life and love. Now, however, they were all sorted out.

“Is Mark liking college?” Jisung, the youngest and Jaemin’s dongsaeng from dance asked.

“He hasn’t replied to me yet. I am sure he will be fine. I have a year to bloom into a mature adult butterfly. Even dad says that distance makes the heart grow fonder.” Well that explained Donghyuck’s sharp words.

“Your dad or his dad?” Chenle asked betweenbites. Everyone had to laugh at that. markHyuck dynamics were weird, but as far as Renjun had figured it out, Both had grown together in Seoul but Donghyuck’s own parents wanted to return to Jeju, and Donghyuck had no intention to. So he stayed in the school and visited Mark’s family over the weekends. Mark’s own family had accepted him as a future son in law, and sometime over, Donghyuck referred to Mark’s dad as his own. It was cute.

“His ofcourse.” Donghyuck said while having another bite.

Jaemin fed Renjun some food, which led to Jeno grumbling about it, and Jaemin fed some to him as well. After lunch, the three went to their classes, Jeno and Jaemin both taking turns to kiss him goodbye, while Donghyuck pretended to vomit. Just another regular day.

They had moved, no longer in a tiny apartment, but a larger one, in the central parts. Their new house had balconies with plants that Kun maintained and a swing they would all sometimes sit on. His own bedroom was larger, with a bathroom of its own, and his dad’s had a suite to themselves. 

Sicheng and Kun had been worried about changing Renjun’s school but renjun himself had been excited, his only loss being Yangyang, but the boy was close enough with Hendery for them to run into each other. 

Renjun came home to see Xiaojun on the dining table, while his baba sat next to him. Kun had been helping Xiaojun study for the college tests. This was something that greatly pleased Sicheng. It gave him an opportunity to spend more time with his godson, without running into Taeyong, and also proved somehow that they, Sicheng and Kun were somehow superior. Renjun had long given up on trying to understand his dad’s weird obsession with his uncle.

As soon as Kun saw him, he smiled and Renjun rushed to complain how insufferable a broken hearted Donghyuck was, along with his insistence on blooming like a butterfly.  
Kun asked Xiaojun to look over some stuff and took Renjun with him to the kitchen, making him some hot chocolate while listening to him patiently.  
“Where is dad? Is he not going to come for our Plans vs. Zombie marathon?” he asked after finishing the re-telling of his day.  
“He is with Uncle Xuxi and Jungwoo, they are coming for dinner later, so I think the marathon has to be postponed.” Renju made a face that resulted in a chuckle from his baba.  
“Go and change, and if you have any homework, do it with Xiaojun, I guess. Are your thirds and fourths coming by later?”  
“My lovely boyfriends will not be joining us for dinner today.” Renjun pouted a bit at the name.

After he had started dating Jaemin and Jeno, Hendery and Xiaojun had often complained about how less time he had with them, and now that they were on the verge of being shipped of the college, they started referring to them as his thirds and fourths, because ever persistent Donghyuck had taken the title of being his second.

He had relatively less work and finished it soon, after successfully convincing Xiaojun to play a round of games with him. 

These days, as his baba had reduced his workload, only working as a language teacher at his previous school, to focus more on his master’s degree, he spent more time at home, giving Renjun a reason as well to spend more time at home, rather than at the studio in his school. 

Kun had moved in with them, permanently six months after he started dating his dad, and the process had been so emotionally annoying for Renjun. Both of them were walking on their toes around him, scared of everything it seemed until Renjun, also troubled by his school life, had a meltdown. 

It wasn’t one of his greatest moments, but had certainly been one of his most effective ones.  
“I have been abandoned by my birth parents and raised in an orphanage that literally ran down. You guys having sex with each other is not going to traumatize me for god’s sake. I am tired of you both treating each other like enemy states. You are dating and you both actually like each other. I am going to move in with Uncle Ten and Johnny permanently just to avoid this tension. Actually, I am going over their place now, and I will come back a week later, and both of you should be disgustingly in love and playing house when I return.   
I am the disaster teenager here for God's sake.” 

He had also received some scolding, but his weeklong stay with his uncles had allowed his dads to figure out a lot of things and act like the adults he supposed they were.

They had decided to not have an elaborate wedding ceremony but just the registration, followed by a vacation. There had been a lot of family meetings, sitting and discussing boundaries and experiences, but the real issue was when talks about Kun also becoming his dad came up. 

Sicheng had gone to Japan for a week preparing for a tour there, when Renjun had gotten some food poisoning,(from probably eating Mark’s food), and there were issues regarding paperwork, because Kun wasn’t a parent for Renjun, and Ten and Johnny had to act instead, because Sicheng was unable to come.

Renjun wanted Kun there, and he also knew that all three felt that the situation as it was wasn’t ideal. Sicheng had a small talk with Renjun, then a longer one with Ten and Jaehyun, before asking Kun if he wanted to adopt Renjun as well. There had been a lot of tears. 

The changing status of Kun from his teacher/step-father to his baba, allowed Donghyuck to raise the issue of transferring Renjun to his new school, the same one that Donghyuck attended. They had also decided to move to a bigger house, one near the new school and the university, as Sicheng had finally convinced Kun to go back to uni.

Kun, for being such a great teacher, had wanted to continue his education, but he had to give up after his undergrad to go and work. Renjun had even joked that Kun might be able to teach him university like this as well.

Looking at how his parents' relationship was growing with issues like who paid for what part of the finances and whose surname should be taken, had given Renjun enough perspective that high school romances were necessary. Neither of his parents had high school romances and that was probably why they were so bad at navigating through the to-do’s of a relationship.

This also did not make much sense to Renjun. His own relationship was so easy going, with both Jaemin and Jeno, but then perhaps he was a bit lucky, for the only issue was realizing that he didn't have to choose between them, and he could have both. 

After Xiaojun left, Renjun went to take a shower. He went to the dining room to see his dad back from work and went to give him a hug. His uncle from his baba’s side, Xuxi who was surprisingly not very older than him, he was under thirty and still cool, so he was young, was here with both his partners, Jungwoo and Yuqi. Yuqi was expecting and they were planning baby names. 

Renjun had heard enough about Kun’s parents still being a couple of bullies, but they had moved back permanently to China, and allowed Xuxi to visit them with Yuqi. It wasn’t satisfactory, but they were no longer interfering with Kun at all. 

Dinner was something Kun had taken very seriously and Renjun had been eating most of his meals at home after the food poisoning incident. Neither he nor his dad were complaining. Kun was easlily the best cook in all of his family, Taeyong included. Sicheng had started to gloat about it like a caveman, and he and Jaehyun had almost got into an argument about their respective spouses. Was this how they were in college? Being frat boys?

Renjun did not wish to know.

After dinner, Renjun went out to the balcony just to see the stars. It was something spending time with Jeno had gotten him into. He was leaning on the railing, feeling the wind blow, almost a Juliet when he felt a hand on his shoulder, his dad. He didn’t turn back but leaned backwards into him. He felt another body on his other side, his baba. He lifted his head up, until he could look at them, and smiled. He was feeling needlessly romantic, perhaps because of his association with Jaemin. 

The past year had made him so grateful for so many things, and more importantly had matured him a bit.

“Hi dad, hi baba.” Renjun spoke softly/  
They both just smiled at him, with so much love in their eyes, that he turned around and hugged them.  
“Family hug?’ one of his fathers’ asked.  
“Family hug” the other replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want any clarifications or anything, please comment.  
> also comment other wise.  
> or like/ kudos, if you liked it.  
> thank you to all the mods as well


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